New airline Breeze is adding 35 new routes across the US this spring and summer

By early August, the carrier will serve 28 cities in 18 states

A Breeze Airways plane (Breeze Airways)

Breeze Airways, a newcomer to the US domestic flight scene, has announced that it will add 35 new routes across the country between May and August this year.

Since the budget carrier launched flights in May 2021, its network has been limited to the southeast of the country, initially focusing on Florida, South Carolina, New Orleans and Virginia.

Now its network is set to expand, with flights launching to Las Vegas, Los Angeles, San Francisco, Nashville and Jacksonville, Florida this spring and summer.

By early August, the carrier will serve 28 cities in 18 states, with its fleet of 13 aircraft expanded to 30 by the end of 2022.

Longer legs on the expanded network include Providence, Rhode Island to Los Angeles and Syracuse, New York to Las Vegas.

Breeze Airways was founded by David Neeleman, a former JetBlue CEO, who is aiming to make it “the world’s nicest airline”.

It’s now in competition with the US’ ultra-low-cost airlines Frontier and Spirit, as well as the high-quality/low-cost carriers Southwest and JetBlue.

“We brought humanity back to the airline industry with JetBlue,” Neeleman said in a pre-launch press release. “Today, we’re excited to introduce plans for ‘the World’s Nicest Airline.’”

The airline’s aim is to offer cheap, short hops across the US on routes that people might otherwise drive.

“Our goal is to get people there twice as fast for half the price,” Neeleman told The Independent in August.

Elsewhere, the US’ federal mask mandate is due to end on 18 March, will many waiting to see if there will be another extension.

Under the mandate, US flyers must wear face masks in all airports and across all flights into, out of and across the country.

“The mask requirement remains in place and we will continue to assess the duration of the requirement in consultation with CDC,” a Transportation Security Administration (TSA) representative told press in late February, when the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) changed its advice around mask wearing in public.