Fast-growing US start-up Breeze Airways turned its first full-month operating profit in March, reflecting rapid revenue gains amid quick expansion.
That is according to the privately held airline, which on 9 April disclosed a few broad financial metrics and said that March brought its “first full-month of operating profit”.
Breeze does not specify how it calculates operating profit, though the figure typically reflects the financial performance of a company’s core operating unit and excludes interest and taxes.
Founded by David Neeleman in 2019, ultra-low-cost Breeze says its unit revenue – typically measured in revenue per available seat per mile flown – increased more than 30% year on year in the first quarter of 2024.
Breeze, which started flying passengers in May 2021, also generated more revenue from scheduled flights in March than it did in all of the first quarter of 2023, it says.
The improving financial metrics reflect what Breeze calls “high demand for its premium-leisure products” and increasing popularity of a route network largely composed of flights between secondary markets that otherwise lack direct air links.
Breeze, which flies Airbus A220-300s and Embraer E-Jets, says it operated 99.8% of its first-quarter flights, excluding cancellations due to factors beyond its control.
The airline’s early 2024 financial and operating performance “sets the stage for continued profitability based on current quarterly and full-year forecasts,” it adds.
Breeze is among two new US airlines that got airborne during the Covid-19 pandemic, the other being Avelo Airlines, which also targets routes other airlines to do operate. Avelo took to the skies in April 2021.
Breeze started flying with just two E-Jets. It quickly acquired more of those regional aircraft and in December 2021 received its first A220. Breeze now operates 10 E190s, six E195s and 21 A220-300s, and holds outstanding orders for another 70 A220s, Cirium data shows.
By the end of 2024 Breeze intends to phase out its E-Jets and operate only A220s on its scheduled flights, the airline says.
