JetBlue reveals suites with sliding doors for London flights

JetBlue Airways on Monday unveiled the first major redesign of its Mint seats since the premiere of the premium cabin in 2014, with private suites hoping to win over competitors’ transatlantic customers.

The New York-based airline is planning to debut the new cabins on its first flights to London, which it plans to launch in the summer, using new Airbus A321LR planes.

Uncertainty still obscures the market for highly profitable transatlantic travel, which has been devastated by the coronavirus pandemic more than domestic flights. Travel restrictions, concerns about the spread of Covid-19 and a slow launch of the vaccine promise difficult months for operators, with business and international demand taking even more time to recover.

The new Mint suites have sliding doors and 1-1 configurations, meaning that travelers will not have a passenger beside them. The planes will have 24 Mint suites. JetBlue will equip the planes with two Mint “studios”, which feature an extra side table and a small second seat, an offer to attract business travelers. It also plans to equip jets with 16 suites on some planes used for flights between New York and Los Angeles this year.

Airlines have been equipping premium cabins with suites with sliding doors for the past few years, promoting privacy as the new luxury on board.

In April 2019, JetBlue announced that it planned to start flights from the East Coast to London using long-range single-aisle planes.