Breeze brings transcon service to Westchester/White Plains

Los Angeles, San Francisco, and Las Vegas will all soon be available as nonstop destinations from White Plains/Westchester (HPN), flown on Breeze Airways‘ brand new A220-300 aircraft. These are three of the seven new destinations the carrier will add as it opens operations from the airport just north of New York City.

If you can go transcon and pay an extra 50 bucks for first class, we think people will do that.

– Breeze Founder and CEO David Neeleman

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The new routes represent the first transcontinental destinations for White Plains and a significant expansion of options for travelers who prefer the closer airport rather than the typically greater options from New York City’s “big three” at LaGuardia, JFK, or Newark. All told, the expansion by Breeze will add 6 of the 15 biggest markets currently not served nonstop from Westchester: Los Angeles (#1), Jacksonville (#3), Charleston (#8), San Francisco (#10), Las Vegas (#12) and Savannah (#13).

Breeze’s operations (seven nonstop markets) will edge out JetBlue (six) for the most destinations served non-stop, according to data from Cirium. American Airlines and Delta Air Lines will continue to offer more daily flights than Breeze, but on shorter flights to hubs. Breeze hopes the broader range of nonstop markets will attract customers to its new service.

Read More: The unexpected fun of Breeze’s new long-haul routes

And with 36 seats in the “Nicer” premium cabin, Breeze sees a significant opportunity to drive strong ancillary revenue and up-sells, especially in a market that historically has paid higher than average fares.

The Breeze A220 fleet also features in-flight WiFi service, powered by Viasat. The first plane carrying that system is expected in October, so for the first few months the transcon routes cannot guarantee a connected experience on board.

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The transcon flights will fly with a daily service, a shift from Breeze’s initial operations on limited days of the week. That transition was expected with the A220s, however. Unlike the used Embraer planes Breeze launched with, the Airbus fleet comes with higher costs and demands higher utilization to try to generate a profit from that operation.

Unlike some airlines which treat transcon flights as a marginal market, flown as a redeye eastbound to take advantage of otherwise idle planes, Breeze will operate the LA and San Francisco routes as daytime trips in both directions. Las Vegas will launch as a daytime flight but convert to a redeye relatively quickly.

Of the shorter routes, only Charleston will operate on the A220. Flights to Jacksonville, Norfolk, and Savannah will run on Breeze’s Embraer E190/195 fleet.

Read More: A fresh take on the Breeze in-flight experience

Separately, Breeze also announced flights from Hartford to Las Vegas and New Orleans to Savannah. The New Orleans-Savanah flight will continue to Westchester as part of the carrier’s “BreezeThrough” direct flight offering.