The European Commission has said it “welcomes the positive developments at Amsterdam Airport that will allow newcomer JetBlue Airways Corporation (“JetBlue”) to continue operating at the airport during the 2024 IATA summer season.” “The Commission has been actively and closely monitoring the development of market conditions at Amsterdam Airport. Specifically, the level of congestion at the airport and the activities of the Blue Skies joint venture (“JV”) between Air France-KLM Group, Delta and Virgin Atlantic, in order to identify any risk of serious and irreparable damage to competition for transatlantic flights. traffic, particularly on the Amsterdam-New York route. The Commission stood ready to intervene with interim measures in case JetBlue failed to guarantee adequate access to Amsterdam Airport for the 2024 IATA summer season. Between 2010 and 2015, the Commission investigated three joint ventures related to transatlantic passenger services: (i) Oneworld Atlantic Joint Business (American Airlines, British Airways, Finnair and Iberia), (ii) Star A++ (Air Canada, United Airlines and Lufthansa), and (iii) the TAJV between Skyteam members, Air France-KLM Group, Alitalia and Delta. In 2020, the Blue Skies JV between Air France-KLM Group, Delta and Virgin Atlantic replaced the TAJV and the former JV between Delta and Virgin Atlantic. The JVs bring together EU and US carriers, which agree to pool their resources and share revenues on transatlantic routes connecting their hub airports, as well as routes connecting these hubs to certain ‘behind and beyond’ destinations in Europe and the US. As a result of its investigation, the Commission concluded that on certain transatlantic routes between hubs, such as Amsterdam-New York, the entry of a new competitor or the expansion of an existing competitor was necessary to mitigate the distortive effects of the joint ventures. At the end of the 2023 IATA summer season, the American airline JetBlue began offering daily direct passenger transportation services on the Amsterdam-New York and Amsterdam-Boston routes. JetBlue’s entry has revived competition in favour of consumers between the three airlines offering direct transatlantic services at Amsterdam Airport, namely: two Blue Skies members (KLM and Delta) and United Airlines. However, due to tight capacity constraints at Amsterdam Airport, JetBlue had not been able to secure all the slots it had requested during the early stages of the slot allocation procedure for the 2024 IATA summer season. There was therefore a risk that JetBlue would have had to cease operations on these routes as of March 30, 2024. JetBlue has improved its slot portfolio at Amsterdam Airport during the later stages of the slot allocation procedure and has ultimately obtained all the slots it needs to continue operating at Amsterdam Airport throughout the 2024 IATA summer season. As a result, consumers will not be deprived of choice at a time of strong demand for transatlantic services. The Commission will continue its monitoring ahead of the 2025 IATA summer season. Photo: Shutterstock
