JetBlue appears to be setting its sights on its next international destination: Lisbon.
A published list from Portugal’s slot coordinator showed that the New York-based carrier requested 840 slots at Lisbon Airport (LIS) for summer 2024. However, it is unclear if or when JetBlue’s request would be approved.
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The summer 2024 travel season extends from March 31 to Oct. 26, and JetBlue’s request for 840 slots would translate to two daily takeoffs and two daily landings if approved, according to the aviation-focused Simple Flying website. And it’s highly likely if JetBlue were to fly to Lisbon, it would fly to the Portuguese capital from New York and Boston — JetBlue’s two gateways for service it already flies to Europe.
JetBlue did not respond to a request for comment by the time of publication.
The carrier has been ambitious in its transatlantic expansion, adding flights to London, Paris, Amsterdam, Dublin and Edinburgh in the course of two years. If Portugal gives JetBlue the greenlight, Lisbon would become the carrier’s sixth European destination.
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At the same time, Lisbon’s airport is slot-constrained, and so far, JetBlue has not received any slots from the airport, making it unclear if JetBlue will be able to add flights to Lisbon by summer 2024.
JetBlue’s attempted foray into Lisbon is happening as the carrier gained a reprieve for its slots at Amsterdam Airport Schiphol (AMS) after the Dutch government decided to walk back its controversial plans to cut flight capacity at the airport in order to reduce traffic and pollution. If the Dutch government moved forward with the plan, JetBlue would have lost its slots at Schiphol for summer 2024.
JetBlue lobbied extensively against the proposed flight caps, even asking the U.S. Department of Transportation to ban Dutch carrier KLM from New York’s John F. Kennedy International Airport (JFK) in response to Schiphol’s flight reductions.
But after facing intense pressure from the U.S. and the European Commission, the Dutch government decided to put those plans on pause.
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