US’s Breeze Airways inducts first A220

Breeze Airways (MX, Salt Lake City) has taken delivery of its first A220-300 following the handover of N203BZ (msn 55128), which was then ferried from Mobile Downtown to Tampa Int’l on December 17, Flightradar24 ADS-B data shows.

The jet is the first of 11 such aircraft due to be leased by Breeze Airways from AerCap. The second is slated for delivery by the end of the month, with the remaining nine due in 2022-2023. Breeze Airways will lease a further three A220-300s from Einn Volant Aircraft Leasing Holdings Limited, a joint venture between AerCap and the Caisse de dépôt et placement du Québec investment firm. The three jets will be managed by AerCap and will deliver in 2022.

Breeze Airways has eighty A220-300s on order from Airbus (AIB, Toulouse Blagnac) in total, including 20 confirmed in September 2021. The start-up, backed by David Neeleman, intends to use the jets for medium-haul flights, while short-haul legs of less than two hours will continue to be operated predominantly with E190/E195 regional jets.

The airline will deploy the A220s in a premium-heavy configuration with 36 business and 90 economy class seats (including ten with extended legroom). It has yet to file schedules for the type but said previously that it would begin their commercial operation in the first half of 2022.