JetBlue ends New York-JFK to Amsterdam Schiphol route
JetBlue initially struggled to acquire slots at Amsterdam Schiphol Airport (AMS).
JetBlue has canceled its flights from New York John F. Kennedy International Airport (JFK) to Amsterdam Schiphol Airport (AMS), ending the route after having already moved it to seasonal-only in 2025.
Cirium’s Diio Mi showed that with the latest schedule update, JetBlue no longer plans to fly between JFK and AMS. The airline’s booking engine also indicated that the flight is no longer available, with the engine suggesting one-stop itineraries either via Boston Logan International Airport (BOS) or other carriers' routes.
For now, JetBlue’s daily flights between BOS and AMS are set to continue. The cancellation of the JFK-AMS route was first disclosed by industry observer JonNYC.
According to Cirium’s Diio Mi, which compiled data from the Department of Transportation (DOT), during the summer 2025 season between March and September (no data is available for October yet), JetBlue’s load factors on the route averaged 79.86%, climbing up to 86.31% in August.
Load factors do not necessarily mean a route is profitable or loss-making, as yields determine the revenue earned per passenger, yet are still a part of the profitability equation.
According to the airline’s Q3 financial report, during the quarter, its operating revenue on transatlantic routes contracted from $169 million in Q3 2024 to $167 million. Nine-month Atlantic operating revenue decreased from $383 million to $372 million.
The airline launched its year-round service from JFK to AMS in August 2023 after announcing the route in April 2023. At the time, Robin Hayes, the ex-Chief Executive Officer (CEO) of JetBlue, said that the route had been “long overdue for some competition,” adding that US legacy airlines, backed by their joint ventures with other global airlines, “have locked customers in with very expensive fares and mediocre service.”
“Just like we’re doing in London and Paris, we will bring fares down and improve the experience for customers flying between the US and Amsterdam.”
The carrier began flying between BOS and AMS on September 20, 2023, with the airline’s statement announcing that the route’s start came after “the successful launch of services from New York’s JFK Airport (JFK) on August 29.”
For JetBlue, acquiring slots at AMS had been an uphill battle. In February 2023, it filed a complaint with the DOT, alleging that the government of the Netherlands violated the US-European Union (EU) ‘Open Skies’ agreement “by failing to ensure JetBlue is provided all operating authorizations, including slots, required to conduct international air transportation.”
The airline detailed that due to the Dutch government’s decision to cap annual flight movements at AMS, Airport Coordination Netherlands (ACNL), which oversees three commercial airports’ slots in the country, retired slots that would have been made available for new entrants. Furthermore, ACNL had “construed the EU Slot Regulation in a manner that forecloses the possibility of a new entrant gaining access to the airport through alternative means,” and, according to reports, “begun to withhold the assignment of certain slots, which ordinarily would be afforded historic precedence” to incumbent airlines at the airport.
In June 2023, JetBlue withdrew its complaint since it acquired historical slots for the winter 2023/2024 season, resulting in “a partial solution for JetBlue’s ability to serve Amsterdam on a permanent year-round basis.”
However, in September 2023, the airline filed yet another complaint, alleging that at the end of the winter 2023/2024 season, the “Dutch Government is poised to eject JetBlue” as part of the government’s decision to cap movements at AMS, once again violating the US-EU Open Skies agreement.
In a déjà vu filing on February 6, 2024, after the DOT had already ordered Dutch airlines, including KLM, to file schedules of their planned services to the US, JetBlue withdrew its complaint. The reason?
The Dutch government suspended the planned flight movement cap at AMS, and JetBlue had successfully worked with ACNL to acquire historic slots at the Dutch capital’s airport.
In addition to the lack of growth opportunities at AMS due to slot constraints, the Dutch government has also increased per-passenger taxes on flights departing the Netherlands. Instead of the current blanket tariff of €29.40 ($34.55), the tax will become distance-based, with long-haul passengers being taxed €70.86 ($83.28).
The change is effective from January 1, 2027.
The Engine Cowl has reached out to JetBlue for comment.
Rytis Beresnevicius
Comments ()