Breeze Airways is shaking up its route map, and Florida is the big winner. New schedule data shows that Tampa International Airport will overtake Orlando as the airline's busiest base in the first quarter of 2027, with 2,108 planned departures — an 81% jump on the 1,161 flights it operated from Tampa in the same quarter of 2026. Until now, Tampa ranked third in Breeze's network.

The growth isn't just about frequency. Breeze is pushing hard into international flying from Tampa, with 180 of those quarterly departures heading abroad to Cancun, Montego Bay, Nassau, Punta Cana and San Jose. A newly announced nonstop route to Santo Domingo will add the Dominican Republic to that list, something Tampa airport officials were quick to welcome as an easy new option for Tampa Bay travellers.

So where do Tampa's passengers actually go? Raleigh-Durham in North Carolina tops the list as the busiest domestic route from the airport, with 192 departures planned for Q1 2027, followed by Fort Lauderdale (167) and Charleston (138).

Raleigh-Durham itself climbs to second place in Breeze's overall network with 1,920 quarterly departures, up 48% year on year, nudging just ahead of Orlando (1,898, up 33%). Fort Myers (1,417) and Charleston (1,196) round out the top five — meaning four of Breeze's five busiest airports sit in the US Southeast.

Further down the rankings, two airports stand out. Fort Lauderdale is a brand-new entry to the top 10 with a staggering 1,040% increase in flights (821 scheduled), while Las Vegas returns to the list with 751 departures, up 83%. Slower growers include Windsor Locks (959, up 11%), Providence (842, up 9%) and New Orleans (766, up 35%). Airports that featured in the top 10 this year — Akron Canton, Provo and Norfolk — all see more flights in 2027 but drop out of the rankings as the network tilts east and south.

The expansion comes on the back of a milestone for the airline: it retired its last older Embraer E-Jets in 2026, leaving it with an all-Airbus A220-300 fleet of 65 aircraft, averaging just 2.7 years old, with 34 more on order.

For travellers, this matters in practical terms. If you live in Florida, North Carolina or South Carolina, Breeze is becoming a serious low-cost option for both domestic hops and beach escapes to the Caribbean and Central America — and the new Santo Domingo route makes it easier than ever to reach the Dominican Republic nonstop from Tampa. Expect more seats, more direct city pairs and fewer connections on these corridors through 2027.

Story via Simple Flying.