NEW YORK, June 8, 2004 (PRIMEZONE) -- JetBlue Airways Corporation (Nasdaq:JBLU) announced today it has signed a contract with Airbus to exercise future options on 30 new A320 aircraft.
In addition to the 60 aircraft already delivered, the carrier now has 123 A320s on firm order backlog with options for a further 50 new aircraft. JetBlue expects to take delivery of these A320s at a rate of up to 17 aircraft per year until 2012.
"As the sixth largest A320 operator in the world as measured by weekly departures, we're very excited to add an additional 30 Airbus aircraft to our fleet," said David Neeleman, CEO of JetBlue Airways. "We continue to see a strong demand for more flights from our loyal customer base. Today's announcement of 30 more IAE-powered A320s will help us meet that demand by providing the JetBlue experience to more customers around the country."
"This agreement will make JetBlue our fourth largest airline customer in the world, in terms of numbers of aircraft ordered," said Noel Forgeard, Airbus President and Chief Executive Officer. "The fact that a low-fare carrier holds this stature speaks volumes of the value of the A320 Family in the low-cost sector. JetBlue continues to be a leader in the recovery and strengthening of the U.S. market, and we are proud to be a partner in their success."
JetBlue is a low-fare, low-cost passenger airline, which provides high-quality customer service. JetBlue operates a fleet of 60 new Airbus A320 aircraft and plans to add another nine A320s to its fleet in 2004. The airline has 100 Embraer E190 aircraft on order with options for an additional 100 with deliveries scheduled to begin in mid 2005. All JetBlue aircraft feature roomy all-leather seats each equipped with free live satellite television, offering up to 24 channels of DIRECTV(r) Programming at every seat.*
Based at New York City's John F. Kennedy International Airport, JetBlue currently operates 240 flights a day and serves 24 destinations in 11 states and Puerto Rico. JetBlue plans to commence new service between JFK and San Jose, CA on June 10. JetBlue also plans to initiate services between JFK and Santiago and Santo Domingo, Dominican Republic on June 10 and June 17, respectively. With JetBlue, all seats are assigned, all travel is ticketless, all fares are one-way, and a Saturday night stay is never required. For more information, schedules and fares, please visit www.jetblue.com or call JetBlue reservations at 1-800-JETBLUE (538-2583), 1-888-538-2583 if calling from Puerto Rico, or 1-888-751-2241 if calling from the Dominican Republic. This press release, as well as past press releases, can be found on www.jetblue.com.
* DIRECTV(r) service is not available on flights between New York City and Puerto Rico or the Dominican Republic.
This press release contains statements of a forward-looking nature which represent our management's beliefs and assumptions concerning future events. Forward-looking statements involve risks, uncertainties and assumptions and are based on information currently available to us. Actual results may differ materially from those expressed in the forward looking statements due to many factors, including without limitation, our extremely competitive industry, our ability to implement our growth strategy including the integration of the Embraer E190 aircraft into our operations, our significant fixed obligations and our reliance on high daily aircraft utilization, increases in maintenance costs, fuel prices and interest rates, our dependence on the New York market, seasonal fluctuations in our operating results, our reliance on sole suppliers, government regulation, the loss of key personnel and potential problems with our workforce, the potential liability associated with the handling of our customer data and future acts of terrorism or the threat of such acts or escalation of U.S. military involvement overseas. Additional information concerning these and other factors is contained in the Company's Securities and Exchange Commission filings, including but not limited to, the Company's 2003 Annual Report on Form 10-K and Quarterly Reports on Form 10-Q. We undertake no obligation to update any forward-looking statements to reflect events or circumstances that may arise after the date of this release.