BATON ROUGE, La (KLFY) — Louisianans will soon see new travel and job opportunities, as a new nonstop flight service connecting New Orleans to new markets has launched, just in time for the state to open back up after the Coronavirus pandemic took its toll.

Breeze Airways, a new U.S. carrier from JetBlue founder David Neeleman, recently announced its debut network. The new flights will offer service to New Orleans from new markets currently without existing nonstop service.

The New Orleans flights will serve 10 markets: Charleston, SC; Akron/Canton, OH; Bentonville/Fayetteville, AR; Huntsville, AL; Louisville, KY; Norfolk, VA; Oklahoma City, OK; Richmond, VA; Tulsa, OK; and Columbus, OH.

The first flight is currently scheduled for July 8, with other connections launching July 15 and 16.

“As we emerge from the pandemic, we understand full well the amount of pent-up excitement to travel once more, both for excited tourists to experience our unique and welcoming culture, as well as for Louisiana residents to explore new destinations,” said Gov. Edwards.

The newly-launched airline will create an operations base with hundreds of jobs at Louis Armstrong New Orleans International Airport, or MSY.  With operations established by aviation industry veterans, Breeze Airways will make a capital investment of $6.6 million at MSY and will create 261 new direct jobs, with an average salary of $65,000, plus benefits.

Headquartered in Salt Lake City, Breeze Airways is the latest airline launched by Neeleman, who previously launched JetBlue, Morris Air, WestJet and Azul airlines. Breeze Airways launched with the intention of pairing mid-sized US cities that currently do not have nonstop service.

The airline’s debut network comprises 39 nonstop routes between 16 cities in the Southwest, Midwest, Southeast and Eastern U.S. Breeze will focus most of its flights from four main airports: Louis Armstrong New Orleans International Airport, as well as airports in Tampa, Florida; Charleston and Norfolk.

Neeleman was joined by an experienced team of industry veterans to achieve the goal of building an airline that offers a great experience, with low fares and high flexibility.

“Together, we created Breeze as a new airline merging technology with kindness,” said Neeleman. “Breeze provides nonstop service between underserved routes across the U.S. at affordable fares. A staggering 95 percent of Breeze routes currently have no airline serving them nonstop.”

“With seamless booking, no change or cancellation fees, up to 24 months of reusable flight credit, and customized flight features delivered via a sleek and simple app,” Neeleman continued, “Breeze makes it easy to buy and easy to fly.”