Please ensure Javascript is enabled for purposes of website accessibility
Upcoming Event

Best Places to Work in Virginia

Hamburger Menu Hamburger Menu

Tag: air travel

Norfolk focuses on cruise and entertainment tourism

The “city surrounded by water” — Norfolk — is going through “an evolution, putting in necessary investments to stay on top of the times” as a tourism destination, says Sean Washington, the city’s director of economic development. The city is expanding its cruise center to accommodate an influx of passengers year-round, has broken ground on a casino complex, and is sprucing up its arts and culture hub.

It’s also making improvements to its airport, Washington says, to “make the traveler’s experience as efficient and convenient as possible. … Now, it’s a lot of dollars, but it’s necessary that it is invested in the overall experience of the traveler.”

The amount of the city’s investment in various projects is not unusual, Washington says. But the timing of it is compressed because “so many of our older assets needed work at once.”

The Nauticus Half Moone Cruise Center’s plunge into the year-round cruise business is set to launch Feb. 11.

The 12-deck Carnival Sunshine setting sail weekly from Norfolk to the Bahamas, Bermuda and the Caribbean holds about 3,300 people.

“So, every weekend, 3,300 people are arriving and 3,300 people are disembarking,” says Stephen Kirkland, executive director of Nauticus maritime museum. “They’ll be shopping, eating, staying in hotels. We expect people to be driving in and people will be flying into the Norfolk airport. We hope people driving will stop on the way in or the way home” and visit other Virginia attractions.

About 300,000 passengers are expected to move through Norfolk annually, starting this year. Roughly $12 million in enhancements will go into making that traffic flow smoothly. The city is footing the bill.

The 80,000-square-foot facility that is home to Virginia’s only cruise ship program shares its space with Nauticus’ Maritime Discovery Center, Sail Nauticus — a Nauticus Foundation program for underserved youth, and the historic Battleship Wisconsin, one of the largest battleships ever built by the U.S. Navy.

One of the key improvements to the city-owned cruise center, according to Kirkland, is the replacement of cramped elevators and escalators with a sloped circular ramp that will make boarding and exiting ships more efficient. “People, luggage. Everything from Xerox paper to lobster tails needs to have a quick turnaround. Every five minutes saved helps,” he says.

Work also is being done to improve U.S. Customs and Border Protection facilities to handle the increasing number of passengers. Kirkland says mobile customs kiosks are being added for efficiency.

An outdoor terrace area at the center is being enclosed to provide air-conditioned seating space for about 600 passengers waiting to board. That’s expected to be completed this fall.

Chrysler Hall will shut down for a full season to allow a full renovation, says Sean Washington, Norfolk’s director of economic development. Photo by Mark Rhodes

Norfolk is already a port of call for several cruise lines, Kirkland notes. “It works well. Ships arrive during week and people take tours of Williamsburg, Jamestown, Yorktown” and of Norfolk itself, he says.

Still, the booming cruise line industry has been meeting with resistance at overcrowded ports of call around the globe. Some residents in Yorktown protested a Princess pilot program that would have brought thousands of tourists to its small port, so those plans were put on hold.

“We’ve not had any real concerns here in Norfolk, but we do recognize that this heightened cruise activity needs to be carefully balanced with other priorities in the community,” says Kirkland, who has met with local businesses owners, hoteliers and civic league leaders.

Carnival began sailing from Norfolk in 2002, and in 2023 operated a six-month cruise schedule from May to October. A total of 250,000 cruise passenger visits last year made it the busiest season in the city’s history.  Norfolk’s expansion is a sign of how the cruise industry has changed after the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks, Kirkland adds. Before, cruises were mostly out of New York City, Miami and Los Angeles. “There are more ports now. They’re bringing the ships to the people.”

Doubling down

Last year, Norfolk took its first step toward joining three other Virginia cities in the casino business. In October 2024, the Pamunkey Indian Tribe and Boyd Gaming, its corporate partner, broke ground on a commercial casino resort on the north bank of the Elizabeth River, near Harbor Park. This came after multiple delays following city voters approving a casino referendum in 2020, as well as a change in the business partnership.

Plans for the $750 million Norfolk resort call for a 200-room hotel, eight food and beverage outlets, and a casino floor with 1,500 slot machines and 50 table games.

It is expected to open in late 2027, but in the meantime, a temporary casino will be built on the property, which is expected to open in November, says David Strow, spokesman for Boyd Gaming. “The transitional facility will be at the front of the site, using a minimum amount of space. We want to leave ourselves plenty of room” for the permanent casino, he notes.

The new casino originally was to be named Head Waters Resort & Casino, but “it will have a different brand,” Strow says. A new name has not been announced.

“We’re looking to be a best-in-market facility. We want to attract people not only from the Hampton Roads region but from other states, other markets,” Strow says. The new casino “will create hundreds of new jobs. It will create tax revenues and purchasing opportunities for local business.”

Once it opens, the Norfolk casino will join the Hard Rock Hotel & Casino Bristol, Rivers Casino Portsmouth, and Danville’s Caesars Virginia, as well as Petersburg’s Live! Casino & Hotel Virginia, which is expected to open in 2026.

The region already has plenty of reasons for people to visit, Strow adds. “Our hope is to add to that experience. We could partner down the road with cruise ship traffic. That could be an opportunity. We believe there are synergies to partnering with others in the community.”

To give people even more reason to visit, Norfolk is sprucing up its entertainment venues. At the end of this season, the Chrysler Hall performing arts theater, which features Broadway shows such as “Mamma Mia!” and “Tina – The Tina Turner Musical,” will shut down for one full season.

The upgrade will make loading and unloading theater sets quicker, Washington says. Currently, “we can’t turn the shows as fast as we want to.”

After the lights are back up at Chrysler Hall, the city plans to close the Scope Arena for renovations, Washington says. “We’ll do them back-to-back, then have them both back online.”

The Scope Plaza — the shared space between Scope and Chrysler — has been underused, Washington adds, and the overhaul of the buildings will provide an excuse for more outdoor entertainment. In August 2024, thousands of music fans showed up to the plaza for the Cousinz Festival, a one-day music event with headliners Erykah Badu, Larry June and Jermaine Dupri, and organizers announced the festival will return in 2025.

Plans for the city-owned former Military Circle mall property also are shaping up. Washington says the project will center on a tournament-caliber ice rink complex, plus residential, retail and hotel space. “If we want to have sports tourism, we don’t want to duplicate what’s being done in surrounding cities,” such as Virginia Beach’s emphasis on volleyball, Washington says.

There’s also still discussion about what should happen at the struggling MacArthur Center mall, which was purchased by the city in 2023 for approximately $18 million. Washington says MacArthur Center is ready “for some big developments.” As of late 2024, the city has completed studies and met with developers, he notes. “There’s a lot of great momentum. Everybody was highly impressed with the city and are wanting to move forward.”

Taking off

All the visitors attracted to the area have “dramatically increased demand” at Norfolk International Airport, says Mark Perryman, president and CEO of the Norfolk Airport Authority, which runs the airport.

Traffic has increased from 4.1 million passengers in 2022 to 4.86 million in 2024 at an airport that “hasn’t had major improvements other than upgrading parking structures” in more than 20 years, according to Perryman. But that’s changing.

To prepare the airport for the coming decades, a billion-dollar improvement project is underway to update critical infrastructure and add amenities. Among the biggest changes is a new $400 million departures terminal, with groundbreaking expected in summer 2026.

Already completed is an update of the airport’s primary runway, which returned to full service in December 2024, following the replacement of older concrete surfaces with easier-to-maintain asphalt. A new 80-space “park-and-wait” area opened just in time for the 2024 Christmas rush, and three additional gates in Concourse A are expected to be finished by November.

Other projects include a new U.S. Customs Inspection facility, which will replace one that is more than 25 years old, and by summer a new moving walkway connecting parking decks is expected to be operational, Perryman says.

Also in the works is a 165-room Courtyard by Marriott hotel, connected directly to the terminal. It’s set to be open in early 2026, Perryman says, and it fulfills a long-term need.

“Norfolk and Virginia Beach have a shortage of hotel rooms. We don’t have anything really close to the airport — the closest hotel is about three miles away. This will be nice for early flights and late arrivals,” he says.

Another big project is a $200 million consolidated rental car facility scheduled for groundbreaking this year. The new facility will be more efficient, Perryman says. Rental cars will be serviced on site, and “we need the parking spaces” the rental car companies have been using in the parking garages.

Sprinkled among the larger projects are smaller improvements to make airport travel more pleasant, including new seating, phone chargers and more vending machines.

For all these improvements, Perryman notes that the airport is mainly covering costs itself. “We don’t receive any tax money from any municipalities — not from the general revenue, not from property taxes.”

The airport receives some grant money but, for the most part, “we use user fees to support ourselves,” he says. The Norfolk Airport Authority had $98 million in total revenue in fiscal 2024, up from $87 million the prior fiscal year. Hotel and rental car companies, meanwhile, are providing their own financing for their projects. Perryman’s also looking ahead to increased cruise travel and its impact on the airport.

“How do we get people between the airport and the port?” he asks. “We don’t have the capacity with taxis, Uber and Lyft. We’re looking at having dedicated shuttles.”

It’s all part of making the Norfolk “the best flying experience possible,” he says. “We want to make our piece of it as customer-friendly as possible.”

Norfolk at a glance

Located at the mouth of the Chesapeake Bay, Norfolk’s vast waterfront acreage has earned it the nickname of “the Mermaid City.” Home to Naval Station Norfolk — the world’s largest naval base — the city has capitalized on its strategic location as a hub for both defense and international shipping. However, Norfolk has grown beyond its maritime roots, developing a vibrant food and entertainment scene. The third most populous city in Virginia (behind Virginia Beach and Chesapeake), Norfolk is also a higher education powerhouse, home to Old Dominion University, Norfolk State University, Eastern Virginia Medical School (now part of ODU), Tidewater Community College, ECPI University and Tidewater Tech.

Population
230,930

Major attractions
Tourist attractions in the Mermaid City include Nauticus maritime museum, which just reopened after a $21.5 million renovation, and the Battleship Wisconsin. Norfolk Botanical Garden has 60 different gardens and offers a popular holiday lights display. The Chrysler Museum of Art, the Barry Art Museum at ODU, which is undergoing a significant expansion, and the Glass Light Hotel & Gallery collectively have the largest collection of glass to be viewed for free in the world.

Professional sports
Norfolk Tides Minor League Baseball (Baltimore Orioles affiliate)
Norfolk Admirals East Coast Hockey League

Top convention hotels
Sheraton Norfolk Waterside Hotel 45,570 square feet of event space, 466 rooms
Norfolk Waterside Marriott 68,879 square feet of event space, 407 rooms
Hilton Norfolk The Main 60,000 square feet of event space, 300 rooms

Top employers
U.S. Department of Defense (10,000-plus employees)
Sentara Health (7,500 to 9,999 employees)
Norfolk Public Schools (7,500 to 9,999 employees)
Norfolk city government (2,500 to 4,999 employees)
Old Dominion University (2,500 to 4,999 employees)

Norfolk airport adding JetBlue service in April

JetBlue will start service from Norfolk International Airport on April 30, offering seasonal daily nonstop flights to Boston’s Logan Airport, Norfolk airport officials announced Wednesday.

The airline will be the ninth commercial carrier at Norfolk’s airport, and its 140-seat Airbus A220 aircraft will depart Norfolk at 6 p.m., arriving at 7:29 p.m. in Boston daily between April 30 and Oct. 25. Returning flights will leave Boston at 3:30 p.m. and arrive in Norfolk at 5:05 p.m.

“I’m regularly asked when we’ll be adding JetBlue to Norfolk International Airport, which speaks volumes about the airline’s strong reputation and customer loyalty,” Norfolk Airport Authority President and CEO Mark Perryman said in a statement. “I’m excited to soon become a ‘Blue City’ and am confident this long-awaited partnership will be well-received by travelers here, as well as among New Englanders seeking to spend time in coastal Virginia and the Outer Banks beginning later this year.”

JetBlue plans to expand its routes to and from Boston this year, including the addition of daily seasonal service to Wilmington, North Carolina; Islip, New York, and Norfolk starting April 30.

Norfolk International Airport announced Monday that it recorded a third consecutive year of record-breaking passenger traffic last year, with 4.86 million passengers in 2024, up from 4.55 million in 2023. Allegiant, American, Breeze, Delta, Frontier, Southwest, Spirit and United currently offer service from the airport.

Yagen makes $100M donation to Military Aviation Museum

Gerald “Jerry” Yagen, founder of the Aviation Institute of Maintenance and Centura College, has made a $100 million gift to Virginia Beach’s Military Aviation Museum, including his private collection of 70 vintage military aircraft, the museum announced last week.

In the 1990s, Yagen began collecting aircraft from the first 50 years of aviation history, from the Wright Brothers’ flight in 1903 to the Korean War in the early 1950s, planes that were originally stored in hangars in Suffolk. In 2008, he opened the Military Aviation Museum in Virginia Beach, allowing the public to see the collection. Yagen’s gift includes the 130 acres where the museum sits, an airfield at 1341 Princess Anne Road, and $30 million to start an endowment for the museum. The gift was announced Oct. 5 at the museum’s annual Warbirds Over the Beach air show.

Gov. Glenn Youngkin thanked Yagen, his wife, Elaine, and their family for the gift in a statement. “It’s due to great Virginians like the Yagens that our commonwealth is the best place to live, work and raise your family.”

The museum, which now has about 250 volunteers, is run by Keegan Chetwynd, the museum’s director and CEO, who has shepherded it from a private collection to an independent nonprofit. About 85,000 visitors come to the museum annually, according to the announcement. Many of the aircraft are still flyable, and on Thursday, a World War II-era plane from the collection carried a load of baby formula, diapers and other necessities to western North Carolina to assist victims of Hurricane Helene, in partnership with the Virginia Beach Fire Department.

“In the beginning, I saw this as my personal challenge to preserve history and these beautiful warbirds,” Yagen said in a statement. “I just didn’t want to see them disappear to time. I never believed so many would volunteer so much to help Elaine and I do this. I realize it is no longer an individual challenge.”

Richmond airport sets new travel record

Just two months after shattering its monthly passenger record, Richmond International Airport has done it again.

The Capital Region Airport Commission on Wednesday announced that the airport counted 439,951 passengers for July, soaring past a record set in May when the airport counted 431,416 passengers.

By comparison, the airport counted 386,931 passengers in July 2019. A year later, as travel plunged during the COVID-19 pandemic, that number dropped to 117,673, according to airport data.

“While we’re certainly pleased with the July results, we’re not surprised,” Capital Region Airport Commission President and CEO Perry J. Miller said in a statement. “The Richmond region has seen tremendous growth with in-migration, several significant economic development announcements and an array of attractive new route offerings and enhancements by airlines operating from RIC.”

According to the the airport commission, three airlines — Breeze Airways, Delta Air Lines and Spirit Airlines — saw year-over-year traffic increases exceeding 25%. For the calendar year to date, passenger traffic has increased 19.2% over 2022. In addition, Breeze will also begin to offer new winter flights from Richmond to Fort Myers, Florida, beginning Nov. 15. The flights will operate twice a week and reconnect Richmond to Fort Meyers for the first time since 2005.

According to the U.S. Bureau of Transportation Statistics, U.S airlines carried 71.4 million domestic passengers and 10.4 million international passengers on U.S. flights in May, an all-time high when not adjusting for seasonality, which takes into account number of weekend days, the timing of holidays and seasonal activity.

Richmond airport CEO to chair national board

Perry J. Miller, president and CEO of the Capital Region Airport Commission, which includes Richmond International Airport, has been elected 2023-24 chair of the American Association of Airport Executives, the world’s largest professional organization representing individuals who work at public-use commercial and general aviation airports.

Miller, who started his term Monday, succeeds Mark Gale, CEO and director of aviation at the Fort Lauderdale-Hollywood International Airport. Named Virginia Airport Manager of the Year in 2021 by the state aviation board, Miller previously served as vice chair of AAAE and president of its Southeast chapter.

Miller has led the Capital Region Airport Commission since 2019. In June, the airport reported April passenger traffic of 393,355, topping the previous April record of 372,025 set in 2019 and marking the second-highest passenger count ever at the airport. For the first 10 months of the fiscal year, passenger traffic increased 13.7%, year-over-year, a gain of more than 425,000 passengers.

Based in Alexandria, the AAAE represents 875 airports.

McLean startup raises $75M for air taxi network

Fritz Lang’s 1927 film “Metropolis” predicted cities with flying cars, while Hanna-Barbera followed that vision 35 years later with “The Jetsons” and its commuter “skyways.” Now, however, air taxis are close to becoming reality.

The industry could generate up to $16 billion in new business investments in Virginia and carry as many as 66 million passengers by 2045, according to a January report from the Virginia Innovation Partnership Corp. and the state commerce and trade secretary.

But those taxis will require management so they don’t crash into other aircraft. That’s where McLean-based AURA Network Systems Inc. comes in.

AURA — which stands for Advanced Ultra Reliable Aviation — is developing a secure, regulatory-compliant network that can control unmanned, remotely piloted aircraft on extended flights beyond an operator’s visual line of sight. In November 2022, AURA raised $75 million in financing from investment companies including Fortress Investment Group LLC and Mudrick Capital Management LP.

Fortress Investment Group Managing Partner Drew McKnight, an AURA board member, says the company will be a “critical innovator” in the infant industry.

According to AURA CEO and co-founder Bill Tolpegin, the company’s proprietary technology could eventually shuttle people through cities.

AURA, he notes, has an exclusive license from the Federal Communications Commission to operate its network on the 450 MHz band, which is reserved for aviation purposes. AURA’s secure, private network “doesn’t touch the internet,” he says, enhancing flight safety and reducing signal latency.

Thomas Alberts, an aerospace engineering professor at Old Dominion University, notes that AURA’s network signal frequency lets it travel through “trees and obstacles and longer distances.”

AURA tested its network in Maryland in July 2022. Pilots flew a Cessna 208 Caravan while the network tested its ability to switch control of the plane from one ground station to the other.

The next step is to build a network for specific companies. At first, that will probably be cargo companies, which will use the network for delivery routes.

Lance Sherry, director for the Center for Air Transportation Systems Research at George Mason University, says advances like autonomous cargo aircraft and air taxis will make communications systems like AURA’s “absolutely critical. … As we go into the future, the vehicles are going to be communicating more and more with each other to avoid collisions … [and] plan their routes so that they’re conflict-free.”  

Fed’s Fifth District economy expands slightly

The economy in the Federal Reserve’s Fifth District (a multistate region including Virginia, North Carolina, South Carolina, West Virginia and Maryland) has expanded slightly since October, according to the latest edition of the Federal Reserve’s Beige Book, released Wednesday.

Published eight times per year, the Beige Book is based on anecdotal information about economic conditions gathered from the 12 Federal Reserve Banks. It is compiled from reports by bank and branch directors, as well as information gathered from business contacts, economists, market experts and other sources.

Here’s what the Nov. 30 Beige Book edition revealed about the direction the economy is taking:

Manufacturing activity in the Fifth District slowed mildly as new orders and backlogs declined but shipments stayed flat. Vendor lead times declined, indicating supply chain backlogs were easing.

Travel and tourism increased moderately, and air travel is expected to increase over the holidays. Retail spending increased modestly from October’s report. Residential and commercial real estate market activity slowed.

Respondents in the ports and transportation sector indicated that volumes were beginning to decline, with overall loaded freight shipments down at Fifth District ports. Loaded exports continued down while import volumes were flat or up slightly, led by furniture, sporting goods and heavy equipment.

Dwell times at the ports declined, reducing congestion and lowering storage fees. Spot rates from Asia to East Coast ports decreased 33% from last period but remained above the pre-pandemic rates, according to the Fed.

Trucking firms reported a slight decrease in freight volumes, in line with the normal seasonal slowdown. Industrial customers’ demand remained strong while retail volumes declined. Trucking respondents reported that they weren’t hiring drivers because their existing workforce could manage current volumes.

The cost of new equipment increased substantially, firms reported, and new truck tractors and trailers were still backordered by about a year.

Employment in the Fifth District increased modestly, and many firms reported unfilled positions. The majority said they were increasing wages for new and existing staff by more than they had in previous years. Companies reported difficulty finding skilled workers.

Prices grew robustly, with manufacturers and service sector companies reporting strong year-over-year price growth in both input and customer prices.

Retailers reported modest sales and revenue growth and increasing inventory. Used vehicle sales increased moderately as prices began to drop, but new vehicle sales stayed low due to low inventory levels, rising prices and higher borrowing costs.

Housing demand slowed as buyer traffic and listings declined. Days on the market and inventory increased but remained below normal levels. High interest rates and low inventory led to fewer pending and closed sales, according to respondents. Prices stayed consistent, but sellers reported offering concessions such as temporary rate buydowns or paying closing costs.

New home construction slowed and builders stopped buying new lots because of high building costs and economic uncertainty. New commercial real estate projects slowed due to rising interest rates and higher construction costs, as well as supply chain disruptions and labor shortages.

In the commercial real estate market, the retail, office and industrial sectors had higher vacancy rates this period, although Class A office space activity remained strong as companies sought to entice employees to return to the office.

Demand for commercial and residential loans decreased moderately in the face of rising interest rates. Higher input costs also weakened commercial loan demand. Deposit growth slowed as customers searched elsewhere for higher yields.

New hangars, terminal in Winchester airport’s sights

This month, the Winchester Regional Airport will open the first group of hangars for midsize private aircraft, a public-private project that could end with 32 new units, bringing the airport’s total number of hangars to 100.

The multiphase, potentially $20 million project is a partnership between the Winchester Regional Airport Authority and Purcellville-based TMG Construction Corp., a design-build firm. The first phase of the project involves the sale and construction of 11 hangars, six of which will open in November. Developers broke ground in December 2021.

“It’s all very exciting,” says Nick Sabo, executive director of the airport authority and the airport’s manager. “It’s cutting edge because there are not many models of this type to look at as far as a public airport like ours. The airport authority had to adopt a policy on how to handle the partnership, so we wrote the script.”

The authority feels comfortable working with private industry, Sabo adds. “This was the only way we saw to bring new hangars to the region that was cost-effective and would offer a quick timeline.”

The development investment of up to $20 million will be spread over a six-year period. “We have land available, but what we lack is deep reserves to invest,” Sabo notes. “This means new tax revenues for the airport and Frederick County and new revenues for TMG.”

Hangar space in the region is at a premium, Sabo says.

The additional hangars also will help increase the airport’s and the Frederick County Economic Development Authority’s outreach “to companies with large government portfolios and direct government [and] private users with activity connected to Winchester Regional Airport,” says Patrick Barker, the EDA’s executive director. “This clearly shows that Frederick County has the assets to be attractive to aviation businesses.”

State funding — a $4.1 million grant from the Virginia Department of Aviation — is helping the airport replace its 33-year-old, 9,245-square-foot terminal with a 16,000-square-foot building that will include a community room and leasable office space. The airport is also approved for a $3 million loan from the U.S. Department of Agriculture for the building project.

Sabo hopes to start construction of the terminal in March 2023, with completion in summer 2024, noting that all of the changes “add up to a historic time of development at this airport.” 

Breeze Airways takes off in Norfolk

Breeze Airways has been flying out of Norfolk International Airport less than six months, but the startup is steadily attracting passengers eager to satisfy their pent-up wanderlust.

Founded by aviation entrepreneur David Neeleman, the Salt Lake City-based airline began offering nonstop, low-cost flights out of 16 cities last spring. Service from Norfolk started June 10, with flights to Tampa, Florida, and Charleston, South Carolina. By August, the startup also had routes to Providence, Rhode Island; Hartford, Connecticut; Columbus, Ohio; Pittsburgh; and New Orleans.

Targeting leisure travelers, Breeze flies out of Norfolk two to four times a week. More than 18,000 passengers traveled on Breeze flights into and out of Norfolk during summer 2021, including 2,457 passengers in June, 5,159 in July and 10,523 in August. Charles Braden, Norfolk International’s director of market development, credits the spike to increased name recognition.

Still, the August numbers represent only about 3% of the airport’s passengers. “Breeze is relatively small compared to other airlines,” Braden notes.

Launching a new airline amid a pandemic is not the norm, he acknowledges, but from Breeze’s perspective, he explains, “the pandemic is a greater reason to start because of their intention to bring low-fare service to the public.”

Breeze, which focuses on smaller, secondary airports with routes averaging fewer than two hours in the air, is on track to invest $5.2 million in an operations center in Norfolk, creating 116 jobs, says Gareth Edmondson-Jones, the airline’s director of corporate communications. “There’s lots of growth to come,” he adds. “We look at where there is opportunity and the most demand. Norfolk fits that bill.”

The 116 employees include flight crew and maintenance personnel, Braden notes.

Some of Breeze’s 80 new A220 Airbus planes serving routes longer than two hours’ flight time could land in Norfolk after they enter service in spring 2022. “It’s safe to say you will see the A220 flying into Virginia,” Edmondson-Jones says, adding that the airline also plans to add cities to its network in 2022. Currently, Breeze flies a larger version of regional jets.

Braden believes the airline will continue to attract more Norfolk passengers. He notes that Breeze is one of five airlines started by Neeleman, including JetBlue Airways. “That gave the industry, as well as our local community, great confidence. There’s strong financial backing and strong management behind the airline, and their future is bright.”  

Breeze Airways setting up base in Norfolk

Breeze Airways, a new low-cost airline, will invest $5.2 million to build an operations center in Norfolk, producing 116 jobs, the governor’s office announced Friday. The airline also will offer nonstop flights out of Richmond International Airport and Norfolk International Airport.

The Salt Lake City, Utah-based startup company, which offers service to mid-size U.S. markets, will include Norfolk as one of its first four operations bases in the United States, and it also will offer flights out of Richmond International Airport, Gov. Ralph Northam said in a news release Friday. The airline started accepting flight reservations Friday morning.

“Aviation has long been ingrained in the Hampton Roads economy, and the arrival of Breeze Airways is another sign of this region’s growing position as a commercial flight hub,” Northam said in a statement. “The post-pandemic world will offer increasing opportunities for travel and tourism, and the addition of this new low-cost carrier at Norfolk International Airport will be a catalyst for economic growth, welcoming visitors to our commonwealth with convenient, nonstop service to often overlooked markets. We are honored that Breeze Airways has selected Virginia as one of its first domestic locations and look forward to building a strong and successful partnership with the company.”

David Neeleman, who founded JetBlue and other airlines, is behind Breeze, which will begin offering flights in June, mainly in markets not served by other low-cost carriers. All employees, including airline crew and maintenance workers, will remain local, the governor’s office said.

“Breeze is excited to be announcing two destinations in Virginia: Norfolk and Richmond,” Neeleman said in a statement. “Norfolk, particularly, is a strong inbound destination with a significant number of unserved markets that will provide Breeze with many years of growth opportunities. We’re looking forward to providing Virginians with low fares and nonstop service, getting them where they’re going in half the time, usually for about half the price.”

The Virginia Economic Development Partnership worked with the city of Norfolk, the Norfolk Airport Authority and other regional and state organizations to secure the project. Northam approved a $400,000 grant from the Commonwealth’s Opportunity Fund to assist the city, and the company is eligible to receive benefits from the major business facility job tax credit for new full-time jobs created.