Transatlantic on anAirbus A220? Breeze eyes international flights in 2025

Breeze Airways continues to pursue its goal of establishing transatlantic routes, with flights to Ireland or the UK its most likely initial destinations.

While this has been on the cards for some time now, the carrier is inching closer to receiving regulatory approvals and could launch new international routes before the end of 2025.

In an exclusive interview with Airline Geeks, Breeze Airways CEO David Neeleman said the low-cost carrier would ideally want to launch international flights by next summer, but this would likely prove "a little bit tight."

Neeleman said that fall would be a more realistic start date given the regulatory hurdles of receiving international clearances, adding,

"Announcing flights for late fall next year would probably be the most prudent way to do it because we do have a lot of routes that are doing well."

Breeze expects to receive its flag carrier status—a prerequisite for operating international flights—in early 2025.

While the carrier has not specified which airports would be involved in its transatlantic operations, Dublin [DUB] has been touted as a likely destination.

Given the Airbus A220s range, the airline would have to fly out of an East Coast airport, most likely Boston or New York, given their sizable Irish populations.

Neeleman also suggested secondary airports in the UK, adding that the airline would likely operate on a seasonal basis, such as "Cancun all winter and Ireland all summer."

In June, the airline was given approval for International Supplemental Operations by the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) and had hoped to commence international operations by the 2024 winter season.

Its plan was initially to begin flying to destinations in the Carribean before a transatlantic expansion.

Breeze is also looking to establish flights to Hawaii, another popular destination within the A220s range.

However, despite it being a domestic route, the carrier must receive ETOPS (Extended-range Twin-engine Operational Performance Standards) certification to operate overwater flights to Hawaii.

With a total of 35 airframes in its fleet, Breeze now ranks among the top five A220 operators worldwide, joined by fellow US carrier Delta Air Lines and JetBlue, as well as Air France and all-A220 operator airBaltic.

Since firming up another 10 aircraft with Airbus earlier this year, Breeze has another 55 airframes on order which would take it to 90 A220s overall.

As the airline inducts new aircraft into its fleet, its possibilities for expansion grow considerably.

With a range of up to 3,400 NM (6,300 km), the A220-300 is well within reach of Ireland, the UK and other Western European destinations. International certification would also open up a host of South American possibilities from Breeze's Florida bases, including most of the major airports in Brazil.

Breeze launched its inaugural flight - a service from Tampa to Charleston - in May 2021 with a small fleet of Embraer 195s before welcoming its first A220 later that year.

By the end of 2022, Breeze had 11 A220s in its fleet, growing to 20 airframes the following year - its expansion has picked up rapidly since then, with the carrier welcoming another 15 A220s to its fleet this year.

Aircraft	In Service	Seat Capacity
Airbus A220-300	35 (55 more on order)	137 (12 first, 125 economy)
Embraer 190	10	108 (economy)
Embraer 195	3	124 (economy)

The carrier now serves around 60 destinations within the US and has built its network around flying from secondary and tertiary airports on underserved routes. Its current bases are: