Breeze Airways will open its first routes from Tweed New Haven Airport (HVN) before the end of the year, marking the carrier’s entry into a market dominated by Avelo Airlines.
The expansion, set to begin on Dec. 10, will see Breeze launch 10 new nonstop routes from the southern Connecticut airport, including to popular Florida destinations like Fort Myers, Orlando, Vero Beach and West Palm Beach. Charleston, Jacksonville, Norfolk, Raleigh-Durham, Richmond and Sarasota/Bradenton round out the additions. Additionally, a New Orleans “thru service” will also be offered.
The move directly challenges Avelo, which has maintained its primary East Coast base at HVN since launching three years ago. Analysis of OAG Schedules Analyser data shows that Breeze will compete head-to-head with Avelo on six of the 10 routes.
“From ‘day one’ our playbook has included significant growth across the Northeast region of the U.S. due to the high population density and limited nonstop travel options,” says Lukas Johnson, Breeze's chief commercial officer. “As a result, our unique model of air service has been a game-changer for this area of the country.”
Avelo currently offers 26 routes from HVN and about 16,300 weekly departure seats using a fleet of Boeing 737 aircraft. Earlier this week, the airline announced plans to add a 2X-weekly nonstop route to New Orleans starting Nov. 14 and increase service to Puerto Rico this winter. The airline will double its frequency of flights to San Juan to four per week.
Utah-based Breeze, which is transitioning to an all-Airbus A220-300 fleet, already serves Hartford Bradley International Airport (BDL) in Connecticut where it operates a base and serves 18 destinations at the present time. The addition of HVN increases its footprint to eight points in New England.
The new rivalry at HVN follows Avelo’s July announcement to begin service from BDL, where it will base two aircraft this fall. Seven routes are being launched from Hartford, including the airline’s first two international services—to Cancun, Mexico, and Montego Bay, Jamaica.
Since then, Breeze has responded by confirming plans to further increase its network from BDL add says it plans to add international flights in the coming months once it has government approval to do so.
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