JetBlue’s New Mint, Lufthansa’s Refreshed A380s, Gulf Airline Updates, and More News

In this week’s roundup, we’ll take take a look at the updated timeline of JetBlue’s new Mini Mint rollout, new routes and destinations for Avelo and Breeze, British Airways bringing new Avios availability between Asia and Australia, and more.

Let’s jump in.

An Update on JetBlue’s Domestic Mint ‘Lite’

According to JonNYC, X’s most prolific aviation insider, JetBlue will install its new domestic Mint prototype on the first jet in June.

At around 20 aircraft per month, 20% of JetBlue’s current non-Mint fleet is expected to have the new seats by the end of the year.

Avelo Adds Indianapolis and Cleveland

Indianapolis (IND) and Cleveland, Ohio (CLE) are the latest airports Avelo Airlines is adding to its destination map. The airline, which is in a constant state of route network flux, saw an opportunity at Cleveland after Frontier and Spirit both reduced operations there. Both airports will welcome twice-weekly, nonstop service to Avelo’s main hub at New Haven (HVN) from mid-June.

Breeze Offers New Way To Fly to Costa Rica

Breeze Airways, another airline known for its route network gymnastics, is adding San José, Costa Rica (SJO), as its fifth international destination. The route from Tampa (TPA) to San José will operate on Wednesdays and Saturdays starting on October 3.

JFK’s Cathay Pacific Flights Will Board Direct From New Lounge

Hong Kong-based Cathay Pacific will offer one of the most premium passenger experiences at JFK when it opens its first-ever lounge at the airport later this year.

Located in the New Terminal 6, the 10,000-square-foot space will boast direct boarding for passengers departing on the airline’s 3 daily nonstop flights to Hong Kong (HKG).

Hopefully, Cathay will use the opening of its new lounge to introduce its latest and best business and first class product — the Aria Suite — to at least one of its JFK flights.

British Airways Launches Melbourne Flights

British Airways is adding Melbourne to its route map. This new daily service via Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia (KUL) will complement BA’s service from London (LHR) to Sydney (SYD) via Singapore (SIN), bringing with it more Avios redemption availability for anyone looking travel between South East Asia and Australia.

BA.com is showing wide-open availability in business class from 88,000 Avios plus $266 in taxes and fees.

The route will be operated by British Airways’ fleet of Boeing 787s that are being retrofitted with Club Suite (BA’s best business class),and first class suites.

Lufthansa New A380 Business Class Comes to U.S. Soon

Lufthansa has almost finished the retrofit of its behemoth Airbus A380s, bringing its business class into line with what you’d expect in 2026. While the jets won’t feature Allegris, the 1-2-1 configuration is a marked improvement on the outdated configuration it replaces. The jets will debut in Boston (BOS) on April 17, Los Angeles (LAX) on April 18, and Washington, DC (IAD) on April 19.

Which Gulf Region Airlines Are Flying — and to Where?

While disruption to air travel persists in the Middle East, some airline schedules are slowly returning to normal.

• Emirates: Resumption of some flights.
  • U.S. routes in operation: Dubai (DXB) to/from Boston, Chicago (ORD), Dallas (DFW), JFK, San Francisco (SFO), Seattle (SEA), Washington, DC (IAD), and between Newark (EWR) and Athens (ATH), as well as between JFK and Milan (MXP).
• Etihad Airways: Resumption of some routes through March 22.
  • U.S. routes in operation: Abu Dhabi (AUH) to/from Atlanta (ATL), Boston, Charlotte (CLT), Chicago, JFK, and Washington, DC.
• Gulf Air: Some flight schedules to resume from March 28.
• Oman Air: Most flights are operating, and there’s a flexible rebooking policy in place.
• Qatar Airways: Still operating a very limited number of flights through March 28.
  • U.S. routes in operation: JFK, Miami (MIA), and Washington, DC.
• Royal Jordanian: All U.S. routes are in operation
• Saudia: Resumption of most flights.
  • U.S. routes in operation: Jeddah (JED) and Riyadh (RUH) to/from JFK and Washington, DC.

The information was correct at the time of publishing on Saturday, March 21. We advise checking your airline’s website before heading to the airport in case there are any changes.

Final Thoughts

I hope it’s not too long before we get to see JetBlue’s new Mint product in the flesh. BA’s new route, and associated increased award availability, and Lufthansa’s A380’s new business class are also worth looking forward to.

As for Cathay’s direct boarding from a lounge, that’s a truly premium experience that is more commonly found at airlines’ home airports, not outstations like JFK. And I’m sure we won’t have to wait long before we’re covering more route changes by either Avelo or Breeze.