Breeze Airways has revealed its configuration for the Airbus A220-300. Unveiling its first plane
on October 26th, the airline has a backlog of 80 A220s on order. Destined to go into
service from the second quarter of 2022, this exciting aircraft will only seat 126 passengers.
The reason for this light configuration is because of Breeze’s large premium cabin.
At the front of the Breeze’s A220-300s, passengers will find 36 premium seats in a
two-two configuration. These seats will be sold in the quote-unquote “Nicest Fare” category.
The seats Breeze has chosen are the Safran Z600, which are each 20.5-inch wide with a pitch of 39
inches. The best comparison of this product is to a domestic first class product that one can
find on American, Delta, or United, for example. Behind this, there are ten extra-legroom seats
and 80 standard economy seats. These two products are laid out in a 2-3 configuration and are more
specifically, comprised of the Safran USZ110i seat product which is 18.8 inches wide. Extra-legroom
seats will have a pitch of 33 inches, while standard legroom seats will have 30-31 inches.
Premium seats will feature in-seat power through AC and USB ports, while the economy cabin will
only feature USB ports. Breeze has not announced its WiFi partner, but it expects to do so in
the coming weeks. The plan is to outfit all A220s with WiFi to allow streaming,
internet browsing, and messaging, although pricing plans have yet to be made public.
Airline founder David Neeleman stated the following about the aircraft:
“The A220-300 is a game-changer for us as we add long haul flights that can average five hours,
including transcontinental service. By the end of 2022, Breeze will have 15 A220s in service.
This aircraft is the perfect addition to our fast-growing airline as we seek to
bring our Seriously Nice™ service to more communities across the U.S. and beyond.”
Emerging from the crisis, major US airlines have discussed how the demand for premium seats has
outpaced 2019 levels. This includes extra-legroom economy and traditional first class products.
Breeze will similarly be offering a lot of premium cabin seats that
should make it more affordable for people to travel in a more comfortable product.
On a transcontinental flight, that could be a lucrative upsell and a well-desired product.
Breeze is still looking at using these aircraft to add new service in quote
“transcontinental markets that lack nonstop flights today.” Plenty of city pairs could work,
including some with minimal competition and low frequencies. It will be interesting to see
how this cabin performs and whether Breeze decides to stick with this configuration.
As Breeze expands its Airbus A220 fleet, it has not ruled out taking some interesting approaches.
Neeleman reaffirmed his interest in putting flatbed seats on the aircraft
and potentially targeting some long-haul routes that the A220 can serve. From a city like Tampa,
Breeze can send its A220s down to Lima, for example. Breeze can reach points in Europe from a
city like Hartford, Connecticut, including London, Madrid, Paris, Barcelona, etc., using an A220.
If you want to hear more about Breeze Airways, we’ll be speaking to the airline’s CEO-
and other industry leaders- on November 10th and 11th, at Simple Flying’s online
Future Flying Forum event. Keep watching to find out what it’s all about...