Breeze Airways is moving deeper into international flying with five new routes to Cancun and Punta Cana, a rapid expansion that will bring the carrier to 43 weekly services to non-U.S. destinations by mid-January. The airline had no scheduled international service in 2025.
The next step comes on Dec. 19, when Breeze will start Tampa-Cancun service twice a week on the 137-seat Airbus A220-300. At 478 nautical miles each way, it will become Breeze’s new second-shortest international route. Booking data showed 137,000 round-trip local passengers traveled between Tampa and Cancun last year, and about 85% of them flew nonstop with JetBlue Airways. Breeze’s entry also restores a second airline to the market after Frontier Airlines pulled out in 2025.
Breeze launched its first international flight in January 2026, from Norfolk to Cancun International Airport, then added Charleston-Cancun service after that. By May 11, the airline planned 14 international routes and had announced five additional international markets, all to either Cancun International Airport or Punta Cana International Airport. The new routes follow a string of domestic route announcements, but the foreign expansion is the clearest sign yet that Breeze is building a broader network beyond the United States.
Two of the new routes begin on Jan. 7, 2027: Pittsburgh-Cancun three times a week and Pittsburgh-Punta Cana three times a week, both on the A220-300. Breeze already competes on Pittsburgh-Cancun with American Airlines and Southwest Airlines, though Southwest’s run there was brief in 2026. On Jan. 8, 2027, Breeze will start Richmond-Cancun twice weekly and Columbus-Punta Cana twice weekly, also on the A220-300. The airline has never operated internationally from Pittsburgh, Richmond or Columbus before.
The Richmond route gives Breeze its first international service from Virginia, even though it already serves Norfolk. Cancun last had service from Richmond in 2005, when USA3000 operated there, and about 33,000 round-trip indirect passengers flew the Richmond-Cancun market last year. Columbus gets Breeze’s first international service from Ohio. The market has barely ever had nonstop flights, USA3000 served it until 2004, and about 32,000 round-trip passengers flew between Columbus and Punta Cana last year. Columbus-Punta Cana was also Columbus’ third-largest unserved international market.
Punta Cana is becoming just as important to Breeze’s network as Cancun. Breeze first arrived there in March 2026, and the Columbus route will be its longest international offering at 1,487 nautical miles. Flights from Punta Cana back to Ohio are timed at up to four hours and 30 minutes, underscoring how far the carrier is stretching its network as it adds longer leisure routes. With all five routes operating by mid-January, Breeze will have turned a standing absence in 2025 into a sizable cross-border schedule in just over a year.
