The carrier looks certain to make its UK debut at the airport from August, joining Canada’s WestJet, Vietnam’s Bamboo Airways and Rwandair as new entrants at the main London hub.

JetBlue has secured 270 slots at Heathrow for its debut services to New York JFK and Boston. Two-thirds of the 37,260 seats it will offer will be to New York. JetBlue has also secured slots at Gatwick and Stansted for its launch but appears to have taken advantage of the massive downturn at Heathrow to secure room at Terminal 2.

JetBlue said in a statement: “We won’t comment on our specific plans until we have made a final decision on our initial London airport.

“We have always said that we have a viable path into more than one London airport and that over the long term we expect to serve multiple airports in London – just as we do in New York, Los Angeles, South Florida and Washington D.C.” 

WestJet, which until now has operated to Gatwick, has secured more than 700 slots to serve Toronto and Vancouver.

Data from slot coordinator ACL also shows Vietnam’s budget carrier Bamboo with 314 new slots to serve Hanoi, while Rwandair, which previously served Gatwick, looks set to switch its UK destination.