Breeze Airways to offer flights from Syracuse airport in early June

SYRACUSE, N.Y. — Breeze Airways — a low-cost air carrier headquartered in Salt Lake City, Utah — will begin air service at Syracuse Hancock International Airport (SYR) in June.

It represents the first time that Breeze has offered flights from an airport in upstate New York.

The airline will launch twice-weekly, nonstop flights, year-round, to Charleston, South Carolina and Las Vegas, Nevada starting June 10, the Syracuse Regional Airport Authority (SRAA) announced Tuesday morning. The announcement boosts the number of nonstop destinations available to travelers at the Syracuse airport to 29, SRAA added.

“I’m personally so excited to be announcing new service from Syracuse,” David Neeleman, founder and CEO of Breeze Airways, said. “It just seems like yesterday we were launching JetBlue here with Senator Schumer. I know both Las Vegas and Charleston will be huge hits with travelers from the Syracuse area. Come fly us and we’ll keep adding more flights and more cities.”

Neeleman also founded JetBlue Airways, which also offers flights from Syracuse, along with three additional air carriers, per the Breeze Airways website.

Breeze Airways will serve both the Charleston and Las Vegas routes with the new Airbus A220 aircraft. The flights will have 120 to 140 seats available, depending on the configuration of the aircraft, per the SRAA release.

“We are beyond excited to welcome Breeze Airways as they launch their first ever regularly scheduled service here in Syracuse,” Jason Terreri, executive director of SRAA, said. “Nonstop service from Syracuse to Charleston connects our travelers to one of the top vacation destinations in the country, while nonstop service from Syracuse to Las Vegas expands our destination map the farthest west it has gone in decades.”

The Tuesday announcement comes just days after the office of U.S. Senate Majority Leader Charles Schumer (D–N.Y.) had said the Democrat had urged Neeleman to begin service at the Syracuse airport.

“Like all of us, airlines have spent the last year buckled down. Now as Central New York’s economy continues to recover and the prospects of its cutting-edge tech industry soar, there is no better time for Breeze Airways to establish its presence in Upstate New York by landing in Syracuse. I made it clear to Breeze in our meeting that they will find no better partner than Hancock International Airport to help their airline grow,” Schumer said in a Tuesday statement.