A new airline is breezing into Wilmington International Airport.

Discount carrier Breeze Airways is scheduled to begin offering four nonstop routes at ILM in February 2025, according to a news release issued Wednesday. The destinations include Hartford, Connecticut; Orlando, Florida; Fort Myers, Florida; and Providence, Rhode Island.

Breeze Airways is ILM’s third discount carrier, along with Avelo Airlines and Sun Country Airlines, and the airport’s sixth carrier overall.

Entrepreneur David Neeleman (also the founder of JetBlue Airways) started Breeze Airways, headquartered in Cottonwood Heights, Utah, in 2021. According to its website, Breeze operates a fleet of Airbus A220-300 aircraft “with a focus on providing efficient and affordable flights between secondary airports, bypassing hubs for shorter travel times.”

ILM is Breeze’s third airport in North Carolina, having recently established service at Raleigh-Durham International Airport (RDU) and Coastal Carolina Regional Airport (EWN) in New Bern.

“We’ve had a lot of success in the Carolinas, both North and South Carolina,” said Max Barrus, vice president of planning and revenue for Breeze Airways. “One of our first cities was Charleston, South Carolina, and we’ve seen tremendous growth.”

Barrus said Breeze started service in New Bern a few months ago. “That’s gone really well. We have also expanded service to Raleigh tremendously since we started operating there [in 2023] and seen a ton of success there, so we’re really excited to be able to expand and grow.”

He said Breeze officials see “a lot of unserved markets for Wilmington that we’re really interested in.”

Breeze has three of the same destinations from ILM as Avelo Airlines. Avelo, which already had an existing Orlando route, announced July 24 that it would launch nonstop flights from Wilmington to Fort Myers and Hartford.

Airlines choose airports and routes based on multiple factors, including the demand for travel to and from second homes and, in the case of the Wilmington area’s large retiree population, to and from friends and family members living in the Northeast or Florida.

ILM Director Jeff Bourk pointed out some differences between the Breeze and Avelo routes that will be provided in Wilmington.

“For one example, Breeze can flow traffic from Providence to Florida over ILM as well as have passengers originate here going to both of those places,” Bourk said.

Breeze’s flight schedule from Wilmington to its four routes is as follows:

• Hartford (Thursdays and Sundays, beginning Feb. 13, 2025);
• Orlando (Thursdays and Sundays, starting Feb. 13, 2025); 
• Fort Myers (Mondays and Fridays, beginning Feb. 14, 2025);
• and Providence (Mondays and Fridays, beginning Feb. 14, 2025).

“There are some options here for Breeze to serve additional markets that other carriers might not be able to because of the type of aircraft they operate and the markets that they’re in around the country,” Bourk said. It just creates another option for growth in the future for Wilmington.”

He said that Avelo started at ILM with two nonstop cities, and the airline has eight today. “We’re excited about the growth we’ve seen here from Avelo as well and expect that that will continue,” Bourk said.

Also founded in 2021, Avelo celebrated two years at ILM in June, announcing in a news release that it has “achieved industry-leading reliability at ILM. When excluding weather-related cancellations outside Avelo’s control, the airline achieved a 99.3% completion rate, meaning the airline canceled less than 0.7% of flights at ILM since fruition.”

Avelo does not offer a Providence route. Barrus said Breeze’s Providence flight, a new nonstop destination for ILM, taps into demand for flights to New England and areas close to Boston.

According to the release, Breeze aims to provide a “‘premium leisure’ model that marries efficiency and affordability with comfort and accessibility.”

The release stated that the airline doesn’t charge change or cancellation fees up to 60 minutes before departure and offers other benefits, including free family seating and a la carte pricing.

“We have continued to see strong growth opportunities in North Carolina, and we’re excited to announce four nonstop routes from Wilmington,” said Neeleman, Breeze Airways’ founder and CEO, in the release. “These great destinations will give the community more options to travel to the Northeast and Florida.”