JetBlue Urges U.S. Authorities to Block KLM’s JFK Access Amid Schiphol Concerns

As a part of its recent European expansion, JetBlue Airways Corp. requested that US authorities prevent Dutch carrier KLM from using New York’s John F. Kennedy International Airport in the event that it loses access to Amsterdam’s Schiphol Airport.

In a document with the US Transportation Department, JetBlue said that the ban is the only just compensation for losing takeoff and landing rights at Schiphol due to further capacity limitations that the Dutch government is planning.

The company requested the ban amid suggestions for less severe alternative penalties. JetBlue started offering service to Amsterdam in August from JFK and from Logan International in Boston in September.

The goal of the state-owned Schiphol capacity limit is to reduce noise and the carbon footprint of flying at one of the major long-distance travel hubs in Europe. Airlines like the Dutch flagship carrier KLM, which is still partially owned by the government, have voiced their opposition to it.

In its filing, JetBlue stated that a suspension of all KLM flights at John F. Kennedy International Airport would be the only appropriate schedule decrease due to the airline’s “imminent expulsion” from Amsterdam. When the deadline for allocating airport flying privileges, which is November 2, approaches, it requested that the agency act quickly to take corrective action.

KLM stated that “We have repeatedly made clear to the Dutch government the potential consequences that a forced contraction could bring in the form of retaliation.” The network linking the Netherlands to the rest of the world is put in jeopardy, which is very bad for KLM.

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