Breeze Airways coming to Evansville, adding new Orlando service
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Breeze Airways is en route to the Evansville Regional Airport, the agency announced Wednesday, and passengers can catch direct flights to Orlando starting in late February.
To the tune of Jimmy Buffet and with paper umbrellas in their drinks, airport and airline leaders, local government officials and the Indiana Economic Development Corp. celebrated the national airline’s arrival this afternoon in the wake of other airlines pulling service.
The airport lost flight service to and from Chicago and Detroit in early 2022, but local leaders told Inside INdiana Business earlier this year they foresaw service returning to southern Indiana. Those destinations are listed on the airport’s website as temporarily paused.
The airport is currently serviced by Allegiant, American and Delta Airlines and has direct flights to Atlanta, Dallas-Fort Worth, Charlotte, Orlando and Destin, Florida. None of those flights head north, which has been a priority for local leaders.
“With markets like Evansville, while other carriers might be pulling out some service,” Breeze spokesperson Ryne Williams said. “We’re looking to jump into these markets and add new service and help that community, help you guys travel to where you want to go.”
The airline will host two weekly direct flights to Orlando International Airport — a different airport than Allegiant’s current service to Orlando-Sanford. The new service means global travel is more attainable — something lost especially when Chicago ties were upended.
Williams said the airline is always in conversation with airports about adding new service but can’t speculate on where and when.
“That’s something that we’re always in the works with, and we’ve been in talks with the airport,” he said. “We’ll continue to work on that to see how we can expand service and hit our market and our niche here in Evansville.”
Founded in 2018, the Utah-based, low-cost airline prides itself on being “seriously nice” and adding convenience to the flying experience including extra legroom and limited cancellation fees. Breeze services primarily smaller, regional airports rather than large hubs.
Evansville is the airline’s first Indiana destination. The city was one of seven airports launched by Breeze on Wednesday with the roster including locations like Myrtle Beach, South Carolina; Madison, Wisconsin; and Grand Junction, Colorado. Adding Evansville made sense, Williams said, because the city fits the portfolio of the type of smaller cities they seek to expand to.
“Adding service here in Evansville, while maybe somebody on the outside might be a little confusing, to us it’s an easy choice,” he said.
Flights to Orlando with Breeze start Feb. 23, running on Mondays and Fridays, and start at $49. Williams said the planes flying the routes will also be aboard brand new Airbus A220 planes.
The airline industry faced turbulence during the pandemic, resulting in several cutbacks since fewer passengers were boarding. Before the pandemic in 2018, the airport saw 7% year-over-year growth, reaching its highest traffic in a decade. In the last year, the Courier & Press reported the airline celebrated a rebound with its highest percentage of seats sold on record, which leaders saw as a positive development.
“We’ve had really solid months over the last several (months), and we continue to expect that to grow into the future,” Executive Director Nate Hahn said. “We’re able to do that one, simply by people choosing to fly out of Evansville, rather than competing airport. But we also do that by dedication to and from our airline community as they continue to expand service.”
Several industries would benefit from increased connectivity, including plastics processor Berry Global, automaker Toyota and manufacturer Koch Enterprises. The Evansville airport once supported seven daily flights to and from Chicago through American and United Airlines.
Mark Wasky, IEDC senior vice president of community affairs, said the new service is a component of the state and region’s goal of improving connectivity and quality of life.
“It’s a critical component of the overall quality of life within regions across the state,” Wasky said. “We look for many more opportunities like this moving forward, and continuing to focus on restoring some of that service that did go away.”
The new service also comes as the Indiana General Assembly approved an additional $5 million over two years funneled to state airports and the IEDC, hoping to restore and expand airlines and service routes. Evansville used those funds to offer incentives to airlines, while the business community laid on pressure. For this expansion, Mayor Lloyd Winnecke said multiple partnerships, including with the city council and IEDC, made the expansion possible.
“It’s phenomenal to have an opportunity to fly our regional residents into Orlando International,” Winnecke said. “We look for opportunities to grow with Breeze in the coming months and years.”
A barrier to returning routes to airports like Evansville’s is staffing. Evansville airport leaders previously told IIB that was a reason why the Chicago and Detroit service was discontinued.