Summary
- Breeze Airways eyeing stretched version of A220-300 for future fleet expansion, considering potential for exciting new airplane model.
- International aspirations include Mexico, Caribbean, Europe; potential for further expansion with longer-distance aircraft like A321LR.
- Breeze Airways founded by Neeleman in 2018, operating bases in various US cities, with plans for fleet growth and international destinations.
Breeze Airways, the airline making headwinds as a new American ultra-low-cost carrier (ULCC), has reminded Airbus that they are interested in a stretched version of the popular A220-300. The airline already has 23 of the A220-300 in service, with almost 70 on order. This ULCC is already retiring its 16 Embraer E190 and E195 and is looking to Airbus for inspiration.
With more aircraft expected to arrive before the end of the year, the fleet is expected to reach 32 A220s and surpass 90 by 2028.
Photo: Airbus
Breeze president Tom Doxey spoke about the airline’s aspirations at the CAPA airline’seader Summit. Doxey noted that moving to another aircraft variant would be highly unlikely; however, this is not stopping the carrier from looking at alternative designs to the highly popular A220, such as a stretched version, which could be of interest to the Utah-based airline:
“If Airbus decides in the end—and there’s some complicating factors around this—to produce the larger version of the A220, the -500 or whatever you want to call it, I think that could be an exciting airplane for us.”
International aspirations
In May last year, the airline applied to the Department of Transportation (DOT) for approval to start international operations to Mexico, which could be achieved with its current fleet subject to where departing from the US; however, as reiterated by Doxey, the airline’s aspirations are much bigger:
“Say you might fly to a Tampa or a Charleston; it wouldn’t be too much of a stretch to say let’s fly another hour and a half to some really great destinations in the Caribbean. You’ve probably heard [CEO] David Neeleman talk a little bit about Europe and there’s an opportunity for that. It’s probably a little further down the road but the close international really great vacation destinations could make a lot of sense.”
Photo: GingChen | Shutterstock
This isn’t the first time that Breeze has signaled interest in traveling further, and from David Neeleman, the airline founder and well-known for being heavily involved in the success of JetBlue, WestJet, Morris Air, and Azul Brazilian Airlines, who has continued to push the boundaries, and signaled interest in aircraft that could fly the same distance as the A321LR, which is approximately 4,000 nautical miles. Could we see Breeze eventually in Europe?
Breeze Aviation Group, Inc.
Breeze Airways is headquartered in Cottonwood Heights, located on the picturesque East Bench of Salt Lake City. However, its operating bases are not found in the west of the United States; it focuses on Charleston (SC), Fort Myers (from October 1), Hartford, New Orleans, Norfolk, Orlando, Providence, Provo, and Tampa.
Photo: Orlando International Airport
Neeleman founded the airline on July 31, 2018, initially as Moxy Airways, which is where its IATA code MX comes from; however, it officially commenced operations as Breeze Airways on May 27, 2001.
Related
Breeze Airways Unveils Its Frequent Flyer Program
The new Breezy Rewards loyalty program offers a guaranteed redemption value and launches alongside a cobranded credit card and five new destinations.