Breeze Airways' inaugural flight at Atlantic City International Airport takes off days after Spirit shutdown
It's the start of a new era for Atlantic City International Airport as Breeze Airways launched its first flights out of the Jersey Shore site just days after a major carrier shut down suddenly.
The first Breeze flight departed for Charleston, South Carolina, on Wednesday around 12:30 p.m.
Breeze's debut at ACY came almost immediately after Spirit Airlines, which accounted for about 75% of all flights at the airport, suddenly shut down and canceled all trips.
Breeze is hoping to capitalize on that, offering four new nonstop routes. In addition to the Charleston route, these four other routes are coming soon:
- Atlantic City to Orlando, Florida: Coming in July
- Atlantic City to Myrtle Beach, South Carolina (seasonal): Coming in October
- Atlantic City to Fort Myers, Florida (seasonal): Coming in October
- Atlantic City to West Palm Beach, Florida: Coming in December
In the coming months, Breeze will be adding even more routes connecting AC to Raleigh-Durham, North Carolina, and Tampa, Florida.
Travelers said they're glad Breeze stepped up after Spirit collapsed.
"Above and beyond excited," passenger Kimberly Cappuzio said. "Charleston's a great place to go, and I visit quite frequently, so it's so nice to have an airport so close to me here in New Jersey. ... I've heard a lot of buzz about the airline, and I'm really excited to get on it."
About 17,000 Spirit Airlines employees lost their jobs nationwide when the airline shut down. It remains to be seen whether any could be hired back in Atlantic City with Breeze making its debut.
