18 April 2023
Breeze is adding more nonstop routes to its map.
The startup budget carrier’s latest plans center on New York’s Islip Long Island MacArthur Airport (ISP), where Breeze will add new nonstop routes to both the Raleigh-Durham International Airport (RDU) in North Carolina and the Portland International Jetport (PWM) in Maine.
Services to Portland will launch June 29 and flights to RDU will start June 28. Flights from New York-Islip to Portland will be a seasonal summer route whereas flights to Raleigh-Durham will operate year-round.
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One-way fares between New York-Islip and Raleigh-Durham start at $59; fares to Portland start at $49.
The routes continue Breeze’s growth in all three cities. With the two new routes announced Tuesday, the carrier will offer nonstop flights to six seasonal and year-round destinations from Islip. From RDU, Breeze will fly nonstop to nine different cities.
“The route to New York-Islip adds a new nonstop destination at RDU and gives travelers more choices when visiting our most-frequented metro area,” said Michael Landugth, President and CEO of the Raleigh-Durham Airport Authority.
Report from the inaugural flight: First look: What Breeze Airways, the new airline by JetBlue founder David Neeleman, brings to the skies
From PWM, Islip will become the carrier’s fifth route — and one that was announced even before Breeze has launched its first flights from the airport. Breeze’s first flights from PWM will begin in mid-May, when the airline launches service to Charleston, South Carolina, and Tampa. Two more routes come online in June prior to the Islip route.
“We are excited to see Breeze Airways continue to invest and expand in the Portland, Maine market” Paul Bradbury, PWM’s airport director, said in a statement “[Tuesday’s] announcement of a fifth destination to New York-Islip before our first flights next month is brilliant!”
Breeze first launched in 2021 by David Neeleman, who has founded JetBlue, Canada’s WestJet and Brazil’s Azul. The budget startup operates on a point-to-point model, adding nonstop routes on flights passengers typically would use to connect.
A new look: Breeze has a new, more economical Airbus A220 configuration
New York-Islip, which is approximately 60 miles away from New York City, is currently served by Frontier Airlines and Southwest Airlines. American Airlines pulled services from New York-Islip in 2022, due to the regional pilot shortage that has squeezed the airline industry since coming out of the pandemic.
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