A brand-new airline is establishing a presence at Northwest Arkansas National Airport, also known as XNA.
JetBlue founder David Neeleman has launched Breeze Airways, which is positioned as an airline that connects smaller cities. Breeze Airways has been approved by the U.S. Department of Transportation to begin selling airplane tickets, and the airline carrier is setting up to begin flying by Memorial Day weekend.
In total, Breeze Airlines plans to run 39 routes and have a presence in 16 cities. Breeze will have four focus cities, which include Tampa, New Orleans, Charleston, S.C., and Norfolk, Va. In addition to Bentonville/Fayetteville, the other cities include Louisville; Tulsa; Akron/Canton, Ohio; Columbus, Ohio; Huntsville, Ala.; Richmond, Va; Hartford, Conn.; Pittsburgh; Providence; San Antonio; and Oklahoma City.
The airliner will begin flying on May 27, and more routes being added throughout the summer. Breeze Airlines will begin running a route from Tampa to XNA on June 17 and a route from New Orleans to XNA on July 15. There will also be a standalone route from XNA to San Antonio, which is projected to begin July 15.
In a promotional video for the new carrier service, XNA public relations and marketing specialist Alex English said that Breeze Airways will offer flights four days a week at XNA. Flights will come in and out on Sunday, Monday, Thursday and Friday with.
At launch, the company will be offering one-way tickets for as low as $39. However, these are introductory rates.
In addition to founding JetBlue, Neeleman founded Morris Air, Azul Brazilian Airlines and WestJet. Reports that Neeleman planned to launch a new airline company date back to 2018, and in 2020, plans surged ahead on the project with applications for certificates from federal agencies.
“What makes Breeze different is our people. We have a great team of people. We’re the nicest airline in the world. That’s a tagline we came up ourselves, and we’re going to live by it every day, and people are going to notice it,” Neeleman said in the promotional video.
For XNA board chair Sara Lilygren, the arrival of Breeze Airways will help expand XNA’s travel offerings and help boost the industry in the wake of the COVID-19 pandemic.
“This is a win-win for Northwest Arkansas and for Breeze. It gives our consumers expanded services, a new carrier and great new direct routes in and out of XNA,” she said. “Travel is coming back, and these new direct flights will expand the number of direct flights to and from XNA to close to 2019 levels.”
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