Breeze Airways unveiled its first Airbus A220-300, serial number 55128, while confirming that it has reached a purchase agreement with Airbus for 20 more aircraft.
This previously undisclosed order of 20 brings Breeze’s total order book to 80 A220-300s, the first of which will be delivered in October 2021.
Paint work was completed at the Airbus facility in Mobile, Alabama. Once delivered, the planned schedule is for Breeze to receive one A220 per month for the next six and a half years. The first commercial flight of the model for the company will take place during the second quarter of 2022.
Breeze is a U.S. start-up that began operations in May 2021, founded by David Neeleman, who also led the creation of Azul Brazilian Airlines, Westjet, JetBlue Airways and was a majority shareholder of TAP Air Portugal.
Breeze is focused on point-to-point routes not served by other airlines in the U.S. domestic market at affordable fares, based out of secondary airports.
The company has a fleet of ten Embraer E190s and three E195s, all ex-Blue. Over the next few months, it will receive another 33 aircraft of the same model from the Brazilian company.
Last month it closed a USD 200 million Series B financing round led by funds and accounts managed by BlackRock Inc and Knighthead Capital Management LLC. Breeze Aviation Group had previously raised more than $100 million.
Airbus chief commercial officer Christian Scherer said in a statement that the A220 «is specifically designed for the 120-160 seat market and represents the fusion of performance and technology that will allow Breeze to connect distant points that were previously unprofitable or, in some cases, impossible.»
Embraer’s currently operate to 16 cities across the country from bases in Tampa (TPA) in Florida, Norfolk (ORF) in Virginia, Charleston (CHS) in South Carolina and New Orleans (MSY) in Louisiana. The A220 will help introduce long-haul flights, including transcontinental connections, for which a larger aircraft is inefficient in lower-density markets.
The company revealed that with the A220 fleet it will offer a third comfort option to its customers, called «Nicest», a premium cabin in a two-by-two seating configuration at the front of the aircraft. Currently with Embraer they offer regular seats (Nice) and seats with additional legroom (Nice+).
«The A220-300 is the right aircraft for our business model and our unique value proposition for our customers,» said Breeze founder and CEO David Neeleman.
«We see a lot of potential to bring our values of friendliness, integrity and ingenuity to our customers’ travel experience, and the A220’s innovative, comfortable cabin and overall efficiency make it the perfect platform to deliver on our promise.» concluded Neeleman.
Airbus A220-300 on the rise, less in Latin America and the Caribbean
Airbus delivered more than 170 A220s to ten operators in Asia, North America, Europe and Africa, demonstrating the great versatility of the latest member of the manufacturer’s family.
Delta Air Lines is the largest operator of the model, with 41 A220-300s and nine A220-300s, out of an order for 95 aircraft. Jet Blue is another U.S. carrier with the Airbus, having six A220-300s out of an order of 70.
Air Canada is another North American carrier with twenty-four A220-300s and nine more to go. Air Baltic has 30 A220-300s and is the only airline in the world that has focused its operations on the model.
Swiss International Air Lines, with 9 A220-100s and 21 A220-300s, was the model’s launch customer. It will soon be joined in the region by Air France, which has an order for 60 aircraft.
In Asia, Korean Air is the only company in the region with ten A220-300s.
The last company to debut the model was Air Austral, which took delivery of three A220-300s in a single day. It will soon land in the Persian Gulf with Iraqi Airways.
At the end of 2021, it will debut in the Pacific with Air Vanuatu, which has an order for two A220-100s and two A220-300s.
The A220 will debut in Central Asia-Central Asia and CIS with Kyrgyzstan-based Air Manas, which has an A220-300.
Africa is the region with the largest number of airlines with A220s: Egyptair with twelve A220-300s, Ibom Air with three A220-300s, Air Tanzania (first operator in the region) with two A220-300s and the aforementioned Air Austral. Air Senegal has an order for eight A220-300s, bringing the total to five African carriers.
It only remains for the model to have a presence in Latin America and the Caribbean to be operating in all markets.
