European Commission regulators have welcomed JetBlue’s improved access to slots at Amsterdam Schiphol airport this summer, an issue it says it was ready to intervene over if the US carrier was unable to secure “appropriate access” to the Dutch hub.
While JetBlue was able to obtain slots at Amsterdam last summer to enable it to launch transatlantic flights to the city from both Boston and New York JFK, the services were at risk after tight capacity constraints at the Dutch hub meant JetBlue initially did not secure its requested Schiphol slots.
However, the Commission notes: ”JetBlue has improved its slot portfolio at Amsterdam airport during the later phases of the slot allocation procedure and has eventually obtained all the slots it needs to continue operating at Amsterdam airport throughout the IATA Summer 2024 Season. As a result, consumers will not be deprived of choice at a time of strong demand for transatlantic services.”
The Commission’s particular interest in competition on transatlantic routes relates to its previous probes into the major airline joint ventures in place on these routes. Specifically this covers the three joint ventures established around the global alliances, namely the Oneworld Atlantic Joint Business (comprising American Airlines, British Airways, Finnair, Iberia and Aer Lingus), Star A++ (comprising Air Canada, Lufthansa and United Airlines) and the Blue Skies JV (comprising Air France-KLM, Delta Air Lines and Virgin Atlantic).
“As a result of its investigations, the Commission found that, on certain hub-to-hub transatlantic routes such as Amsterdam-New York, the entry of a new competitor or the expansion of an existing competitor was necessary to remedy the distortive effects of the joint ventures,” it says.
”The Commission has actively and closely monitored the evolution of the market conditions at Amsterdam airport,” it says, in particular the impact on competition on the New York route because of both the degree of congestion at Schiphol and the operations encompassed under the Blue Skies JV.
JetBlue’s launch of services on the Amsterdam-New York route last summer added to United Airlines’ existing operation to establish two competing services to those operated by Delta and KLM.
The Commission says that it had “stood ready to intervene with interim measures in case JetBlue did not secure appropriate access to Amsterdam airport” this summer, but welcomes confirmation that the US carrier will continue on the route. It adds that it will ”continue its monitoring” ahead of next year’s summer season.
