Breeze Airways To Launch First International Routes In Early 2026

Breeze Airways has received a U.S. flag carrier certificate from the FAA, enabling the carrier to launch service to three near-international destinations in early 2026.

 

The airline had hoped to gain FAA clearance to open international routes during the coming winter, and now plans to begin serving three points in the 2026 first quarter: Cancun, Mexico; Montego Bay, Jamaica; and Punta Cana, Dominican Republic.

 

Breeze, founded by CEO David Neeleman, was launched in 2021 and has since built up a domestic network of more than 80 destinations. The carrier focuses on unserved routes, usually with a smaller market at one or both ends, facing no competition on more than 85% of its routes.

 

“Becoming a U.S. flag carrier is a huge milestone for Breeze, and one that [the carrier has] been working tirelessly on for the last three years,” Neeleman said.

 

All of the international services will be flown with Airbus A220-300 aircraft configured to carry 137 passengers.

 

Breeze will serve Cancun International Airport (CUN) from four U.S. cities. Flights to the popular Mexican vacation destination will kick off Jan. 10 with service from Norfolk, Virginia. Launches to CUN will follow from Charleston, South Carolina (Jan 17); New Orleans (Feb. 7); and Providence, Rhode Island (Feb. 14). All four routes will be operated on a seasonal basis once weekly on Saturdays.

 

Service to CUN from Norfolk, Charleston and Providence will be exclusive to Breeze. Spirit Airlines, currently in Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection, serves the New Orleans–CUN route, with plans to offer 2,520 two-way weekly seats in February 2026, according to OAG Schedules Analyzer data. Southwest operates the route on an opportunistic basis for short periods throughout the year.

 

Breeze will additionally launch flights from Raleigh-Durham International Airport (RDU) in North Carolina to Montego Bay and Punta Cana in early March 2026. Both routes will be operated 2X-weekly on a seasonal basis.

 

The carrier plans to open a crew base at RDU in the 2026 first quarter. A combined 200 flight attendants and pilots will be based at RDU, which will become Breeze’s 12^th crew base.

 

Avelo Airlines, which also launched in 2021, operated the RDU-Montego Bay route from Feb. 9 to Aug. 16, with a peak of 744 two-way weekly seats, according to OAG data. Avelo’s current plan is to operate the service again from Nov. 30 to Dec. 6 and from Dec. 14 to Jan. 6, 2026. Under current schedules, Breeze will be operating exclusively on the RDU-Montego Bay route when it starts service.

 

Avelo also flew on the RDU-Punta Cana route from Feb. 16 to Aug. 30, offering a peak of 744 two-way weekly seats. It will operate 572 two-way weekly seats on the route from Feb. 8 to March 14, 2026, as well as opportunistic service over the 2025 winter holiday period, according to OAG data.

 

American Airlines plans to fly between RDU and Punta Cana on a seasonal basis from Nov. 30 to March 14, offering 344 two-way weekly seats. Both Avelo’s and American’s planned services on the route are scheduled to wrap up as Breeze’s begins.

 

Breeze will additionally commence 2X-weekly service between Tampa, Florida, and Montego Bay from Feb. 11. The route will be exclusive.

 

While the airline’s first routes beyond the U.S. will be near-international, Neeleman told AviationWeek’s Window Seat Podcast earlier this year that he envisions longer-haul routes to be added in the future. 

 

The A320-300 “has about a 3,000-mi. range, so 7 hr. of range,” he said. “We can get into South America and all through Central America if we go from Florida. We can't go too far over the ocean, like to Hawaii, until we get ETOPS certification. But there's a lot of things we can do going south, and hopefully going west and even some destinations going east at some point in time.”