Breeze adds 100th route as it adds service from new airport in Southern California

Breeze Airways, the low-cost startup from JetBlue founder David Neeleman, is back in expansion mode.

The airline announced Wednesday that it will begin flying from John Wayne Airport in Orange County, California (SNA) to Orlando, Florida (MCO), and Provo-Salt Lake City, Utah (PVO).

Orange County marks Breeze's 34th airport since launching in late-spring 2021.

Daily service to both Orlando and Provo is scheduled to begin Feb. 16, along with flights between Provo and Orlando.

Breeze will operate the flights with its new Airbus A220-300 fleet, featuring both extra legroom and first-class seats (those seats can be purchased as an upgrade, and are also included with Breeze's "Nicest" fare product). The first class seats offer generous recline and built-in legrests, a rarity for a domestic first class product.

Breeze launched last year by operating short flights of less than two hours with a fleet of Embraer E190 and E195 regional jets leased from Azul in Brazil, which Neeleman also founded. The A220 that the carrier has since added to its fleet 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.

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The expansion announcement comes after a difficult summer for Breeze during which the low-cost carrier postponed the launch of numerous new routes and markets, citing staffing shortages and supply chain issues, including delivery delays from Airbus.

The situation has since improved, chief commercial officer Lukas Johnson told TPG in a call on Wednesday.

"We're back into heavy growth mode, which is exciting," Johnson said. "We're ramping very quickly."

"We'll be announcing a lot more spring markets in the coming weeks and then obviously early next year, and we'll keep growing from there," he added.

Johnson confirmed that the airline still plans to launch the previously postponed routes, including several from Los Angeles International Airport (LAX).

In the meantime, Orange County represents an exciting opportunity for the airline, Johnson said, noting that it can take years of waiting in order to get landing rights at the airport.

"Today marks both our 100^th nonstop and our 34^th destination with the addition of Orange County," Tom Doxey, Breeze Airways' president, said in a statement that also nodded to the presence of Disney parks near both MCO and SNA. "I can't think of a better way to commemorate this milestone than for the 'nicest airline' to connect two of the 'happiest places on earth' while also giving our Provo Guests an epic daytrip option from their house to the 'house of the mouse' in Orange County."

Fares start at $119 each way between Orange County and Orlando, and $49 each way between Orange County and Provo if purchased by November 15. "Nicest" fares start at $199 and $99, respectively.