CHARLESTON, South Carolina The Charleston County Aviation Authority, Explore Charleston and community leaders will celebrate another milestone for the Charleston region on Thursday, May 27 with the arrival of Breeze Airways’ maiden flight at Charleston International Airport. The flight from Tampa represents not only the first Breeze service into Charleston but also the new airline’s first-ever flight.
The Tampa flight arrives in Charleston at 11:55 a.m. and departs for Hartford, Connecticut at 1:25 p.m.
David Neeleman, CEO of Breeze and Founder of JetBlue Airways, last Friday announced the new airline’s debut network during a national interview on CNBC’s Squawk Box and a subsequent press conference at Charleston International. Breeze will initially fly 39 nonstop routes between 16 cities in the Southwest, Midwest, Southeast and Eastern U.S.
From Charleston, Breeze will offer service to 11 markets, seven of which are new for Charleston International:Flights are now on sale at www.flybreeze.com
“We’re so excited about this partnership with Breeze Airways. They believe in Charleston and we believe in them,” said Elliott Summey, CEO of Charleston International Airport. “For the leisure traveler this means more direct connections to wonderful locations at unbelievable fares. And for business travelers, it opens up new markets.”
“There’s such pent-up demand for low fares and nonstop flights that sales for Memorial Day and beyond have been incredible, well beyond our expectations,” said Breeze Airways founder and CEO David Neeleman. “In fact, our first flight from Tampa to Charleston sold out in less than 30 minutes!”
“It’s an honor for our destination to receive Breeze Airways’ inaugural flight. It’s an even greater privilege to be one of the airline’s main markets and the airport that serves the most nonstop routes. The feedback and enthusiasm since last week’s announcement has been tremendous, and we look forward to a strong, growing partnership with Breeze,” said Michael Tall, Board Chair of Explore Charleston.
Breeze will operate 13 single-class Embraer aircraft this summer, flying routes with an average flight length under two hours. The ten E190 jets will be configured to seat 108 Guests while the three E195 aircraft will have 118 seats Breeze also has ordered 60 brand new Airbus A220 aircraft that will be delivered one per month for five years, starting in October this year.