British Airways has signed an interline deal with US budget carrier Jet Blue covering a tranche of its routes in the States.
The agreement includes the two carriers’ flights from JFK, Boston, Washington DC and Orlando. It covers 18 daily transatlantic BA flights, including the New York-Paris service operated by Open Skies; more than 50 JetBlue US routes and over 100 BA routes beyond London.
The deal is not technically a first between BA and a budget carrier. “It depends how you define budget,” said a BA spokeswoman, who added that oneworld alliance member Air Berlin could be defined as such. “We have codeshare agreements with Westjet and S7 (a Russian carrier) is a oneworld member.”
The deal is the 25th airline partner for JetBlue, which is 19 per cent owned by Lufthansa, a member of the Star Alliance. Recently, JetBlue has grown away from the budget model, offering extra legroom options and a frequent flier programme.
“JetBlue is a well-respected, modern airline and we are delighted to be working with the carrier to offer our customers smooth connections to an even greater choice of destinations in the US,” said Steve Ronald, BA’s head of alliances.