Breeze Airways has committed to grow its base at Rhode Island T.F. Green International Airport (PVD) in Providence to 35 destinations served by 2029, nearly double the 18 it serves from the airport currently.
Breeze, the U.S. carrier founded by CEO David Neeleman in 2021, opened a base at PVD in 2023. It currently operates 132 weekly flights from the airport to 18 destinations.
As part of a new agreement signed by PVD and Breeze, the airline is expected to expand to 200 weekly flights on 35 nonstop routes from PVD over the next five years. PVD currently has a total of 36 routes operated by nine airlines.
Breeze said three of the 35 destinations will be international or U.S. territories. Breeze currently is a domestic-only operator.
“Breeze has indicated they will not only fly coast-to-coast flights from PVD, but also to Europe when it has the proper preparations in place,” said Alicia Seabury, PVD’s marketing director, at Routes Americas 2024 in Bogotá, Colombia, in March.
Breeze said it will base up to 12 aircraft at the airport and grow its workforce at PVD from 200 employees currently to 400.
"There is simply no equivalent for strong, strategic partnerships that align with both the goals of the airline and the communities it serves," Neeleman said in a statement. "A large part of the success Breeze has achieved in such a short period of time can be attributed to support we have received from many of our airport, government and community partners."
Rhode Island Gov. Dan McKee added: “This expansion will bring in more economic activity, more good-paying jobs, more routes, more visitors and help set Rhode Island up as a true destination state.”
Breeze is approaching the May 27 third anniversary of its inaugural flight between Tampa, Florida, and Charleston, South Carolina. PVD was one of 16 destinations in Breeze’s initial network.
PVD is currently one of 11 airports at which Breeze serves the most destinations of any airline. Breeze’s network currently includes more than 170 nonstop routes (both year-round and seasonal) connecting 56 airports in 29 states.
Neeleman has said the airline could eventually operate as many as 2,000 routes.
Breeze said it has taken delivery of its 25th Airbus A220-300, and is scheduled to receive an additional 65 A220s over the next five years. It plans to receive the aircraft at a rate of “approximately one per month.”
All of the carrier’s scheduled services will be flown by A220s by autumn 2024.
The airline, which is not publicly traded and does not have to reveal financial figures, has reported it earned its first monthly operating profit in March. Breeze said it is “on track to achieve its first full quarter of [operating] profitability in [second quarter] 2024, while continuing to expand both its footprint and its fleet of Airbus A220-300 aircraft.”
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