Airline to offer new routes at three Gulf Coast airports

Beginning in the spring, Breeze Airways will offer new nonstop service to several northeast cities from Southwest Florida International Airport in Fort Myers, Sarasota-Bradenton International Airport and Tampa International Airport.

According to a news release, Fort Myers-based travelers will be able to book direct flights to Hartford, Connecticut, and Providence, Rhode Island. The Hartford route will operate twice per week, on Wednesdays and Saturdays, starting May 17, while service to Providence will commence July 13 and be available on Tuesdays, Thursdays and Sundays.

Sarasota-Bradenton travelers will also be able to travel nonstop to Providence beginning July 13. One-way fares starting at just $59 will be on sale Feb. 20, the release states.

“We are excited that Breeze Airways is adding a third nonstop flight at SRQ,” Sarasota-Bradenton International Airport President and CEO Rick Piccolo states in the release. "Providence, Rhode Island, is a destination that travelers have been requesting for years and we look forward to welcoming this new service.”

Tampa International Airport, meanwhile, is getting direct flights to Hartford and Providence, as well as Portland, Maine, and will offer one-way fares starting at $39. Service to Hartford will be available Tuesday-Thursday, Saturday and Sunday, beginning May 17. The Portland route, also commencing May 17, will operate on Wednesdays and Saturdays.

Tampa-to-Providence service, the release states, will begin July 14 and operate on Mondays, Wednesdays, Fridays and Saturdays.

“Here we grow again,” Breeze Airways Founder and CEO David Neeleman, who also founded JetBlue, states in the release. “We always look for routes that people are traveling today but can’t get there nonstop. Now Tampa Bay residents can get to Portland, Providence and Hartford twice as fast, for about half the price!”

Headquartered in Cottonwood Heights, Utah, Breeze Airways was founded in 2021 and operates more than 120 nonstop routes throughout the United States. Its inaugural flight took off May 27, 2021, from Tampa International Airport, destined for Charleston, South Carolina.