The ‘egalitarian’ low cost airline JetBlue has unveiled a business class section on its new planes that includes private mini-suites.
In a business class cabin of 16 seats, four are mini-suites featuring sliding doors for privacy and spacious chairs which convert to flat massage beds.
It is the first time the airline has introduced a premium class section onto any of its planes since its launch 13 years ago.
The12 other seats in the private cabin do not have the privacy doors, but do have the lie-flat beds, as well as a 15inch touchscreen television with 100 channels, WiFi and power and USB sockets.
Passengers will get hot meals, alcoholic drinks and toiletries included in the ticket price, which has not yet been revealed.
Executives at the airline told the Wall Street Journal that the ticket price for its business seats would be a ‘significant reduction’ in comparison with its high-end competitors.Robin Hayes, an executive vice president at JetBlue, told the newspaper that some of its passengers wanted ‘a better experience than the coach experience when flying across the country. It’s not a market JetBlue serves today.’
While JetBlue CEO told Apex: ‘We are targeting the under-served in the premium market. This includes small business owners and those paying for travel themselves.’
The airline is also introducing a limited number of roomier seats in economy class, dubbed Even More Space seats, which customers can pay extra to use.
Currently, JetBlue have the fourth biggest market share of tickets bought between New York and Los Angeles.
As well as flights within the US, the airline also flies to parts of Central and South America.
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