Breeze adds 3 summer routes from Raleigh-Durham focus city

Breeze Airways announced three new routes on Tuesday, adding more destinations from its focus city of Raleigh, North Carolina.

Starting May 23, the airline will fly between Raleigh-Durham International Airport (RDU) and Vermont’s Patrick Leahy Burlington International Airport (BTV), as well as New York’s Syracuse Hancock International Airport (SYR), for the summer season. Service to Portland International Jetport (PWM) in Maine begins the following day.

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Flights to Burlington and Syracuse will run on Thursdays and Sundays, while Portland flights will operate on Mondays and Fridays.

Breeze will offer introductory fares on the new routes, ranging from $59 each way on flights to Syracuse to $79 for one-way flights to Burlington and Portland. Flights must be booked by Feb. 5. for travel through Sept. 3.

The new routes bring Breeze’s total number of destinations at RDU up to 15. The carrier also announced flights to San Diego from Raleigh earlier this month.

“Raleigh-Durham and the greater Research Triangle have shown to be a fast-growing destination and origin,” Tom Doxey, Breeze president, said in a statement. “We have seen great demand in the region, and we are excited to bring more affordable and convenient destinations to our guests, now with 15 nonstop destinations on sale.”

Breeze, the latest startup airline from JetBlue founder David Neeleman, launched in 2021 with a point-to-point operating model; it aims to operate nonstop flights between smaller markets that do not otherwise have direct air connectivity.

The airline began by operating short flights of less than two hours with a fleet of Embraer E190 and E195 regional jets leased from Azul Brazilian Airlines, which Neeleman also founded. Last year, the airline took delivery of its first new Airbus A220. This jet has the range to connect any two cities in the continental U.S., allowing Breeze to expand and operate longer-range routes between smaller airports.

Although recent reports suggest that Breeze may be struggling to become financially sustainable, the airline has expanded rapidly since it began flying, with more than 140 routes between 48 destinations as of this June, according to data from Cirium.