Despite the Pandemic affecting its opening, Breeze airways, America’s newest airline, announced that they would start service in Europe and other International routes with firm deliveries of Airbus A220-300 over the next five years.
David Neeleman, the founder, and CEO of Breeze Airways announced plans to extend the service to Europe, South America, and Hawaii in early 2020. The airlines ordered for 80 Airbus A220s for this reason.
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There have been no fresh talks on the fleet route for flights to Europe. Breeze is all about serving underserved markets; thus, we can expect service from smaller US markets to larger markets in Europe, bigger US markets to smaller markets in Europe, or smaller US markets to smaller markets in Europe.
The breeze will receive a new A220 every month for the next five years, making it one of the best-connected airlines in the United States. While the A220s are due to arrive in the coming weeks, the airline has already begun to expand its fleet. Nordic Aviation Capital (NAC) is expected to lease 15 E190s, with the first arriving in March 2021. With $1.8 billion in investment, the airline will become the world’s second-largest operator of the A220 if the purchase goes through.
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Breeze Airways founder and CEO David Neeleman remarked in a press conference in early 2020, “They have independent objectives — one is an apple, and one is an orange.”, referring to the announcement of a firm order for A220-300 aircraft. “Those planes will never retake the same path. They won’t exist in the same universe.”
“We’re in the middle of it, so we’re debating when to end it. But it isn’t a question of ‘if,’ but rather of ‘when.’ “Reuters quoted Neeleman as saying.
“We need to get up to 4,000 (nautical) miles,” he added, referring to the present range of the A220-300, which is 3,400nm (6,300 km).
Neeleman proposed, “We can fly them to Europe, we can fly them to South America, we can even fly them to Hawaii.” “With that plane, we can accomplish a lot of different things.”
In order to begin operations, The airline signed a memorandum of understanding on July 17, 2018, for the delivery of 60 A220-300 aircraft starting in 2021. However, to begin operations as soon as 2020, the airline planned to employ Embraer E195 planes from Azul, who received their first on December 30, 2020. In February 2021, the airline got its first E190, which it planned to use to commence short-haul, regional services before introducing the Airbus A220-300 for longer routes. Breeze announced an additional 20 A220-300 aircraft order on April 26, 2021, bringing the total number of A220-300 aircraft bought to 80.
First A220 will deliver from October, 2021
Breeze Airways begins taking delivery of its A220s in October 2021, with revenue service beginning in late 2021 or early 2022. The A220s will be used mainly on medium-haul flights, while Embraer E195 jets will be used on short-haul routes. Breeze Airways has lobbied Airbus for an extended-range A220 with larger fuel tanks, allowing it to use the plane on long-haul flights to Latin America or Europe.
The A220 is a capable airliner with excellent economy and passenger comfort that can readily handle some international routes. The breeze will offer a ‘premium’ domestic First Class cabin, which will be arranged in a two-by-two configuration at the front of the plane. The remaining seats on the aircraft will be arranged in a 2 X 3-seat layout, with a capacity of 120-150 passengers.
