JetBlue Airways has become the eighth carrier to offer nonstop flights between New York and Paris, contributing to an almost 8% surge in weekly seat capacity between the two cities compared to pre-pandemic levels.

The route linking New York John F. Kennedy International Airport (JFK) and Paris Charles de Gaulle Airport (CDG) started on June 29 and will be served daily using Airbus A321LR aircraft. A second route to France’s capital is expected to be launched from Boston during 2024.

Paris now stands as JetBlue’s third destination in Europe, alongside London Heathrow and London Gatwick, with flights to Amsterdam scheduled to start later this summer. CEO Robin Hayes says the airline’s entry to New York-Paris will “disrupt the market” with its lower fares and business-class Mint product.

JetBlue is the second new entrant to the New York-Paris sector this year, following in the footsteps of Norse Atlantic Airways which began JFK-CDG service in March. 

During the first week of July, five carriers will connect JFK and CDG, offering a combined 83 flights per week and more than 46,000 two-way seats. Air France commands a 55.5% capacity share of the market, followed by Delta Air Lines on 21.7%, Norse on 10.3% and American Airlines on 8.3%. JetBlue’s share will be around 4.2%.

Air France and United Airlines also serve Newark-Paris Charles de Gaulle daily and two-daily respectively, OAG Schedules Analyser data shows, while French Bee and La Compagnie offer a daily and 6X-weekly service to Newark from Paris Orly.

Overall, capacity between New York and Paris will be 64,676 two-way seats during the week commencing July 3, compared with 60,124 at this time four years ago. New York-Paris is the second largest U.S.-Europe city pair by capacity, behind New York-London on 117,088 weekly seats.

Alongside the Paris launch, JetBlue has advanced its codeshare plans with Serbia’s national carrier Air Serbia. The U.S. Transportation Department (DOT) has approved an application for the airlines to begin operating flights displaying each other’s codes, subject to conditions.

JetBlue and Air Serbia submitted an application to the DOT earlier this month asking for authority to codeshare on routes between the U.S. and Serbia, either nonstop or via intermediate points, as well as beyond to points in third countries. The application followed an agreement signed by Robin Hayes and Air Serbia CEO Jiří Marek at the IATA AGM in Istanbul, Turkey.

Air Serbia currently flies from Belgrade to JFK daily and 3X-weekly to Chicago O’Hare.