Planned US start-up Breeze Airways has signed a sale-and-leaseback agreement with lessor Voyager Aviation for five Airbus A220-300s.
The transaction was arranged by widebody lessor Amedeo, which provides aircraft management services to Voyager.
Deliveries of the jets are scheduled between the first quarter of 2022 and the first quarter of 2023. The deal marks Voyager’s first transaction with Breeze and the introduction to the lessor’s fleet of the A220.
“This transaction demonstrates our ability to execute on sale-leaseback transactions despite the challenges presented by Covid-19,” states Amedeo chief commercial officer Gabriella Lapidus.
Breeze is being launched by JetBlue Airways and Azul founder David Neeleman. The Salt Lake City-headquartered start-up, originally known as Moxy, had intended to begin services this year but postponed its launch until 2021 amid the Covid-19 pandemic.
In a July regulatory filing, Breeze had outlined plans to launch operations in mid-October 2020 with charter services for six months before beginning scheduled flights in May 2021. For initial operations, Breeze said it had signed a lease agreement with Nordic Aviation Capital to lease 15 Embraer 190s. Breeze now says it will start services in early 2021.
Neeleman promises that Breeze will “offer US travellers a new choice in air travel, and a much improved travel experience”.
