Jetblue will form its first formal international alliance with Irish flag carrier Aer Lingus. Aer Lingus, which reformulated itself as a low-cost carrier in the aftermath of 9/11, operates service from two Jetblue cities…Boston and New York, to Shannon and Dublin, Ireland. From Dublin, it offers service into Europe.
Jetblue currently does not offer interline ticketing or baggage transfer with any carrier. While the details of this arrangement are not yet available…implementation of either of these things could mean a significant change for Jetblue. For Aer Lingus, the arrangement will allow it to feed passengers into its transatlantic flights…which like Jetblue, are all sold on a one-way basis.
It may not be the last international alliance that Jetblue gets involved with, but such alliances allow Jetblue to sell seats…which is the goal of any carrier. By signing with Aer Lingus, it is signing with a low-cost carrier with the long-standing reputation of a legacy carrier.