Breeze Airways will offer nonstop flights between the Triangle and two locations in Florida not currently served by other airlines.
Breeze announced Wednesday that it will fly from Raleigh-Durham International Airport to Sarasota-Bradenton starting in November and to Daytona Beach starting in February. The low-cost airline will offer both flights two days a week.
These flights mean Triangle residents can fly nonstop from RDU to nine locations in Florida, more than any other state.
Breeze, a start-up airline that began operations in 2021, has become one of the fastest-growing airlines at RDU, debuting with flights to three destinations in winter 2023. Before Wednesday’s announcement, the airline offered nonstop flights to 18 destinations from the Triangle.
“Raleigh-Durham has been an incredible market for us and we continue to see more growth opportunities,” the airline’s founder and CEO David Neeleman said in a written statement.
Neeleman says the airline flies routes that it believes are underserved by other airlines, meaning it often has no competition. From RDU, it is currently the only airline that flies nonstop to San Diego, Providence, Rhode Island, Burlington, Vermont, Jacksonville and West Palm Beach in Florida, Islip and White Plains in New York, and Columbus and Akron in Ohio.
Low-cost airlines like Breeze target leisure travelers and often offer flights to northern destinations in the summer and warmer destinations in the winter, resulting in constantly changing schedules. Avelo Airlines flew between RDU and Sarasota for about a year before ending service in January.
Traditional airlines like Delta, American, Southwest and United serve the majority of passengers at RDU. But low-cost and international carriers like Aeromexico, Copa, Lufthansa and Icelandair have helped expand the choices available to travelers in the Triangle. People can now fly nonstop from the Triangle to around 70 destinations, including a record-breaking 10 international destinations.
