JetBlue Airways has started operating its first transatlantic service between New York-JFK and London Heathrow. The US low-cost airline says the route will be served daily in August and four times weekly in September with Airbus A321LRs. Flights between JFK and London Gatwick are scheduled to begin on 29 September. A service from Boston to the UK capital is set to follow during summer 2022. JetBlue says it will offsett carbon dioxide emissions from all its flights to and from London throughout the year, in collaboration with long-time partner Carbonfund.org.

Ural Airlines made a net profit of RB2.1 billion ($28.5 million) in the first half of 2021, rebounding from a loss of RB1.4 billion during the same period in 2019. Revenue reached RB40.2 billion, representing an increase of 9% compared with the first six months of 2019. The Russian carrier says the positive results “became possible thanks to a comprehensive cost-cutting programme and continuous optimisation of all processes”. Ural carried nearly 3.8 million passengers during the first half of the year, 11% fewer than in 2019's first six months. The number of flights operated, 27,814, was down 5%. “Despite the fact that the first half of the year is traditionally a low season for the passenger air transportation industry, in this period the company managed to smooth out the negative effect of 2020, to significantly restore the level of equity capital,” the airline says.

Virgin Atlantic will launch flights to Barbados and Orlando from Edinburgh as part of wider capacity growth to the region.
The UK carrier says it will operate twice-weekly flights from Edinburgh to Barbados from 5 December. Virgin Atlantic says the route represents its first international flights from the Scottish capital in the carrier's 37-year history and will be Scotland’s only direct service to the Caribbean. Twice-weekly flights from Edinburgh to Orlando are scheduled to begin in April 2022. The two routes will be operated with Airbus A330's. A new thrice-weekly seasonal service from Manchester to Montego Bay in Jamaica will commence on 6 November, using A330's too. From London Heathrow, Virgin Atlantic will start twice-weekly flights to the Bahamas on 20 November, and thrice-weekly services to St Lucia on 18 December. The two routes will be operated with Boeing 787-9's and A330's, respectively. Frequencies will be increased on existing routes to Barbados and Jamaica from Heathrow, and to Barbados from Manchester. In addition to its Caribbean expansion, Virgin Atlantic says it will increase capacity on routes to Mumbai and Hong Kong in August and September, respectively.