CHARLESTON, W.Va. — More travel and tourism opportunities are coming to the Mountain State with the arrival of Breeze Airways.
Governor Jim Justice joined state and Charleston city officials Tuesday to announce West Virginia International Yeager Airport’s new partnership with the low cost carrier that will be connecting flights to five cities over the next two years.
Starting May 31, the airline will offer nonstop, twice-weekly flights to Orlando, Florida year-round, and summer seasonal service to Charleston, South Carolina.
Yeager Airport’s Director and CEO, Dominque Ranieri, said following Tuesday’s announcement that Breeze is an expansion opportunity for everyone involved.
“This is a huge expansion of air service, and it’s so great not only for our residents, but also for all of those people who have not yet experienced Almost Heaven West Virginia that will be able to travel here on an affordable flight very easily, and it just really opens up West Virginia to everyone,” Ranieri said.
State Tourism Secretary Chelsea Ruby said that it further expands on the tourism marketing plan West Virginia has been working to achieve to bring more visitors in, and it creates more accessibility to those looking to land here.
“Over the last six years, we’ve spent a lot of time expanding the drive market, we’ve been looking at how we can bring people from further and further away, but today, we’re starting a new day, we’re going to start looking at how we can bring people in on flights,” Ruby said.
Ruby continued to say that it’s not only tourism the new airline service will impact but the state’s infrastructure, as well.
“You may not always think of air service as infrastructure, but it is, and quite honestly it’s one that we have let crumble, it’s one that we haven’t been investing in enough, and today is about continuing to connect West Virginia to the rest of the world,” Ruby added.
Today I announced an innovative partnership between @BreezeAirways and the state of West Virginia, which is slated to make connections to five new cities and @flycrw over the next two years. Tickets for some flights are available NOW, with prices starting as low as $49. pic.twitter.com/wXwKcUnVmx
— Governor Jim Justice (@WVGovernor) March 28, 2023
Officials from Breeze Airways were also present at Tuesday’s announcement. Vice President of Marketing and Communications for Breeze, Angela Vargo, said that they are excited to be offering service to West Virginia residents.
“We are the absolute most easiest, most affordable way to get from point A to point B, and we think that connecting these great destinations to West Virginia is going to be a huge hit with the residents here.”
After launching two year’s ago following the peak of the Covid-19 pandemic, when travel was in growing demand, Vargo said that the airline started to grow with it, an opportunity that has been expanding ever since.
“So, we started flying right as the pandemic was coming to a close and people were just dying to get out of their house and onto planes. We started with 16 cities and now we’re at nearly four dozen,” she said.
“It’s exciting to see it grown and it’s exciting that West Virginia wants to grow with us,” said Vargo.
Gov. Justice said direct flights to New York City, the West Coast, and other major travel destinations are slated to be added to Breeze’s service at CRW over the next couple of years.
Tuesday’s announcement follows Spirit Airline’s decision to stop services at Yeager Airport starting on May 4. Nonstop flights to Myrtle Beach and Orlando comprised Spirit’s services at CRW for several years, and Ruby said that the new partnership will help fill the gap.
“We were talking about, ‘how do we replace Orlando? ‘How do we get flights to Orlando?’ and we immediately said, that’s not what we’re here to do, we’re here to find a partner that’s longterm, that’s not going to come in and pull out six months later, we want someone who is going to be here for years and years and is going to help us continue establishing service,” Ruby said.
Breeze Airways was launched by JetBlue Founder and former CEO David Neeleman.
The financial agreement between Breeze, the state, the Kanawha County Commission and the City of Charleston includes a guarantee of usage.
The new routes the airline is starting to offer West Virginia residents is currently on sale for $49 and $59 one way flights. People can now book the flights on Breeze’s website.