Breeze close to flying its A220s to international destinations

Breeze Airways, the newest airline founded by businessman David Neeleman, has taken another step towards international flights.

The Salt Lake City-based carrier has had initial approval from the FAA for International Supplemental Operations, according to Flight Global. International airline status, however, is expected by September at the latest.

While it hasn’t revealed which destinations it plans to potentially launch for its winter season debut, Breeze says it will initially fly to “warm climate” cities.

The Caribbean and Latin America are, therefore, the regions where the airline is expected to debut with its Airbus A220-300. But Breeze aims for more, with routes to Hawaii and also Europe.

The A220 has a maximum range of 3,400 nm (6,297 km) and can fly between Providence or Boston to cities in Ireland and the United Kingdom.

In December 2023, Neeleman had revealed that the company had applied for international routes during an event in Canada.

Single A220 fleet

Breeze is in the process of expanding routes and fleet while preparing the withdrawal from service of its Embraer E-Jets, which were used while the A220s were not delivered.

There are currently 25 A220-300s in its fleet, six of which will be delivered in 2024 (the most recent this week). As for Embraer, the plan is to retire three to six planes in 2024.

Breeze Airways debuted in May 2021 and has implemented an air network with direct flights between small and medium-sized cities in the United States.

The company achieved its first operating profit between March and April. Currently, 56 cities are served in the country.