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US low-cost carrier Breeze Airways said it had closed a US$200 million Series B funding round led by accounts managed by BlackRock Inc and Knighthead Capital Management LLC.
Previously, Breeze Aviation Group Inc has also raised more than US$100 million and started flights at the end of May. The company said it would use the funds to expand operations.
According to Breeze Chief Executive David Neeleman said the airline had had more than 100,000 passengers on board since launching operations. They also serve 16 US cities with 39 available routes.
Currently, they have 13 aircraft and focus on flights between smaller US cities that have little or no direct service from larger carriers. The cities they serve include Tampa, Florida, Charleston, South Carolina; New Orleans, Norfolk, Virginia, Louisville, Kentucky, Tulsa, Oklahoma, Hartford, Connecticut, and Akron, Ohio.
He also added that the airline continues to work on developing new routes that are not served by other direct flights.
For your information, Breeze plans to start taking delivery of 60 new Airbus A220 aircraft from October which will be delivered about one aircraft per month over the next five years. The plan is that the aircraft will be used for routes that are longer than two hours of flight time.
“Breeze is the most capitalized startup in US aviation history so far,” Neeleman told Reuters. [sources/photo special]
