Norwegian and JetBlue have signed a letter of intent to form an interline agreement, enabling for a single booking for connecting flights between the US and Europe.
The partnership, which is expected to launch in early summer 2020, will connect about 60 US and almost 40 Caribbean and Latin American cities to Norwegian’s network in New York, Boston and Fort Lauderdale. From there the Scandinavian carrier serves more than 20 European destinations.
“The partnership will provide travellers throughout the US and Caribbean with more affordable fares to Europe and European travellers access to a wide range of destinations across the US and Caribbean,” said Norwegian’s acting chief executive and chief financial officer Geir Karlsen.
Robin Hayes, chief executive of JetBlue, added: “Norwegian shares our belief that customers benefit when we can bring competition and low fares to the transatlantic market currently dominated by joint ventures, legacy alliances and sky-high ticket prices.”
Flights will be bookable during the first half of 2020 through both airlines’ websites and travel agents using the GDS booking system. Passengers will also be able to check their luggage to their final destination.
In the last week, Norwegian, which is undergoing a restructuring programme, revealed plans to increase frequencies on routes from London Gatwick to San Francisco, Austin, Denver and Tampa from summer 2020 in response to “strong demand”.
However, it is reducing frequencies on four other transatlantic routes from London Gatwick. Buenos Aires will become a five-weekly service, Miami a six-weekly service, Gatwick to Orlando a five weekly service and Gatwick to Rio de Janeiro a three weekly service.
JetBlue, meanwhile, is preparing to launch its first transatlantic flights. It plans to enter the market in 2021 with the launch of flights from both New York JFK and Boston Logan to an undetermined London airport.
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