PRESS RELEASE: Innovative digital platform Route Exchange to support Breeze Airways’ expansion to additional underserved cities

Utah-based Breeze Airways will leverage Routes’ community platform, Route Exchange, to identify new airport partnerships in the Americas, the Caribbean, and Western Europe. The airline, which is the latest venture set up by JetBlue Airways and Azul founder David Neeleman, has issued a ‘Request for Proposal’ that seeks to service underserved markets from the United States within the range of the A220-300.

In May, Breeze announced its summer schedule of 16 cities that are operated by its fleet of Embraer aircraft. Of those routes, some 92% were previously unserved. In October, the airline will start taking delivery of 60 new Airbus A220-300 aircraft, one per month for five years.

Airports with cost structures and facilities suitable for Airbus A220-300 operations have been invited to participate by first completing a prequalifying questionnaire with a submission deadline of Friday 23 July. Successful applicants will then be asked to submit a formal response for evaluation which could lead to the launch of new routes later this year.

Max Barrus, Head of Planning at Breeze said: “We’re delighted to be utilizing the Route Exchange platform to supplement our network growth. As many airlines have retrenched their networks in response to the pandemic, we have identified even more underserved cities ripe for our unique service. We’re confident that the RFP hosted on Route Exchange will support our ambitious short- and medium-term growth plans in many unserved markets.”

Breeze’s decision to use Route Exchange to build its network follows the news that more than 2,000 air services have been announced since the start of the pandemic. As the only online tool dedicated to route development, Route Exchange has provided an effective platform for more than 350 airlines, airports, and destinations to outline their recovery plans, identify new opportunities, and directly communicate with the wider aviation community during this critical time.

The RFP also follows the success of a similar proposal hosted on the platform in June 2020, on behalf of Canadian LCC Swoop, which has resulted in the introduction of Victoria as a new destination and additional services to Kelowna for its summer schedule.