For the third consecutive month, Breeze Airways has announced plans to expand its Vero Beach route map. This time, however, one of two new destinations is outside the Northeast.
Starting on Nov. 21, the Utah-based airline will connect Vero Beach to Washington, D.C., with twice weekly service to and from Washington Dulles International Airport, 25 miles west of the nation’s capital.
The flight will also connect Vero Beach to Ogdensburg, N.Y., which is located on the U.S. side of the St. Lawrence River, 60 miles south of Ottawa, Canada’s capital city. Ogdensburg is a 2 ½-hour drive to Montreal, and a two-hour drive from Syracuse, N.Y.
According to airline officials, the service between Vero Beach and Ogdensburg is a “BreezeThru route,” which means passengers don’t change airplanes, but will stop in Washington for a brief layover – usually 40 to 50 minutes – before the flight continues on to Florida or to northern New York state.
The addition of the Thursday and Sunday service to and from Washington and Ogdensburg will increase the number of destinations offered from Vero Beach to eight by mid-December, when Breeze will begin flying between here and New Haven, Connecticut.
“After announcing service to New Haven from Vero Beach just a couple of weeks ago, we’re back with more,” Breeze founder and CEO David Neeleman said last week. “Vero Beach has never seen service to Dulles, and connecting Vero Beach Regional Airport with the nation’s capital will no doubt be a huge addition for the community.”
Breeze, which began providing service here in February 2023, currently connects Vero Beach to Westchester County, New York; Hartford, Connecticut; and Providence, Rhode Island.
This summer, however, the airline has announced plans to add four new destinations and resume its seasonal service to and from Islip, New York, in the fall.
Vero Beach Airport Director Todd Scher said last week he’s anticipating more than 150 Breeze departures in March, when some days during the peak of the local busy season could see as many as six flights taking off from the city-owned airport.
“The way I’m reading the schedule, we could have some days with six departures, some days with only two departures, and other days with everything in between,” Scher said.
“Mondays look to be busy,” he added. “I see a few of them with five departures, starting as early as December. Most days there will be two to four, but I do know there are some days in March when there will be six.”
Scher said he’s confident his staff and the facilities can handle the demand, as long as Breeze schedules wisely and “puts buffers between departures and arrivals” – which, apparently, it has done.
Problems can arise when flights are delayed, however, as can happen during the winter months in the Northeast.
“When we have five or six departures, as well as the incoming flights arriving here, it’s going to be a busy day, for sure,” Scher said. “But it’s nothing we can’t handle, especially since the airline has done a good job of spacing out its flights.
“This can get a little uncomfortable when, because of delayed flights, we’ve got two airplanes on the ground at the same time, but we’ve managed to make it work,” he added. “There was an occasion last season when there were weather delays and we had three on the ground here.
“We got through that, too.”
Still, Scher said he is “bolstering” the airport staff – hiring part-time employees who will “assist with passenger operations in support of security” – as Breeze expands its offerings here.
He said he couldn’t provide a more specific explanation of the new employees’ duties because of security concerns.
In July, Breeze unveiled its plan to add Islip and Newburgh, New York, to its Vero Beach flight map.
On Oct. 2, the airline will not only resume its service to and from Islip’s Long Island MacArthur Airport, but it will also double the number of flights to four per week: Monday, Wednesday, Friday and Saturday.
The Vero-Islip service was introduced last October, but it was suspended in May for the summer months, despite Breeze officials saying the route was well-received.
The airline then plans to offer twice weekly flights to and from Newburgh’s Stewart International Airport – located 70 miles north of Manhattan, on the west bank of the Hudson River – starting on Nov. 21.
Last month, Breeze announced that it was adding Monday and Friday flights to and from New Haven, with service scheduled to start Dec. 13.
Two Tuesdays ago came the news that Breeze will connect Vero Beach to Washington and, with a layover, Ogdensburg.
“Honestly, nothing surprises me anymore,” Scher said of the carrier’s latest announcement.
“I remember the day the first Breeze flight landed here. One of its executives, Brian McCormick, said the airline would replace I-95 as the main corridor between Vero Beach and the Northeast.
“That’s pretty much what’s been happening, and now they’re flying to Washington. I’m anxious to see how it goes.”
