Breeze Airways Seeks to Expand with Flights to Mexico
The start-up carrier has applied to the DOT to operate weekly flights between Los Angeles and Los Cabos
Photo: Cabo San Lucas. Courtesy of John Cafazza / Unsplash.
Low-cost carrier Breeze Airways has applied for permission to operate international flights, with a popular Mexican destination firmly in its sights.
The Utah-based start-up airline has requested approval from the U.S. Department of Transportation (DOT) to begin operating flights between the United States and Mexico.
Photo: Courtesy of Pratt & Whitney
If approved, Breeze Airways intends to launch weekly nonstop flights between Los Angeles International Airport (LAX) and Los Cabos International Airport (SJD) as early as November. However, an exact schedule for the proposed flights has yet to be confirmed.
Breeze Airways is a relatively young airline, founded by entrepreneur David Neeleman in 2018 and launching its first commercial flights in May 2021. However, much of Breeze’s early success has been down to its distinct business model that focuses on operating flights to poorly served destinations and underserved routes. Making its ambitions for a Los Angeles-Los Cabos route—certainly not an underserved market—somewhat unusual.
Los Cabos, officially Cabo San Lucas, is a resort town on the southern tip of the Mexican state of Baja California Sur and is extremely popular with U.S. travelers. Flights to LAX are also more popular than any other route to the U.S. from Los Cabos, so Breeze will face stiff competition should its weekly service go ahead.
The Los Angeles to Los Cabos market is currently served by at least six airlines, altogether offering almost 20,000 seats each way per week. Alaska Airlines is the dominant carrier in the market, operating up to three daily flights, while Delta Air Lines operates twelve weekly flights.
Photo: Courtesy of Breeze Airways
Meanwhile, American Airlines, United Airlines, and JetBlue all operate daily flights between the two destinations, and Spirit Airlines operates the route five times per week.
If approved by DOT, Breeze Airways is expected to use an Airbus A220 aircraft to operate the route, which has a total capacity of 137 passengers. The airline began using A220s in June 2022 and has now received 12 of the aircraft out of an order of 80. Breeze’s fleet also includes ten Embraer E190s and four Embraer E195s.
“Consumer acceptance of Breeze’s service has been strong, and Breeze has expanded its operations to 35 cities on over 140 routes,” said Breeze Airways in its application to USDOT.
“With many markets underserved or poorly served with connecting service over a major hub, local governments and airport authorities also have embraced Breeze’s services. Local authorities continuously approach Breeze about entering their markets or expanding service to meet their transportation needs.”
