Oct 13, 2026 · @David
Five months after Spirit Airlines’ collapse left a gaping hole in the departure boards at Myrtle Beach International Airport, the carrier that has been quietly patching it just made its biggest move yet. On Tuesday, Breeze Airways announced 11 new nonstop routes out of MYR, launching between February and July 2027, with introductory one-way fares starting at $49. Airport officials say the additions push Breeze’s nonstop network from Myrtle Beach to 25 destinations, and the airline expects to lead every carrier at MYR in both cities served and seats offered by the second quarter of 2027 [Aero Crew News, 2026].
With these new routes, Breeze Airways is poised to become MYR’s Top Airline in 2027, providing travelers more options and enhancing connectivity.
For Horry County residents, this is more than a list of new cities. It says a lot about where our airport is headed, who it is starting to depend on, and what kind of growth the Grand Strand is courting. Here is what’s coming, what it means, and the questions locals should keep asking.
Tickets went on sale the day of the announcement. Every flight below begins in 2027, and the fares are promotional starting prices, not guaranteed rates:
One local TV report listed the Portsmouth flights as Wednesdays and Sundays rather than Saturdays [WBTW, 2026], so travelers should confirm days on the airline’s site before planning around them.
Not every route is entirely new territory. Horry County Director of Airports Judi Olmstead described Boston and Latrobe as returning destinations, calling the overall package a huge moment for MYR. Portland, Maine, was already sold this year as a one-stop, same-plane trip; it becomes a true nonstop next May [Portland Press Herald, 2026]. The remaining cities represent Breeze growing service it already offered in the market [Post and Courier, 2026].
The list itself is only half the story. The bigger picture comes into focus when you look at why Breeze is moving this aggressively, and what it is replacing.
Spirit Airlines shut down in early May, abruptly ending one of MYR’s most significant airline relationships [MyHorryNews, 2026]. The airport described Spirit as a partner of nearly three decades, and even after years of shrinking, the carrier still held roughly 23% of MYR’s total capacity in 2025 [WPDE, 2026]. That is nearly a quarter of the airport’s seats vanishing in a single weekend.
Breeze has been the most visible airline stepping into that void. The company arrived in Myrtle Beach in February 2024 with a single flight [Post and Courier, 2026] and has been adding routes steadily ever since, including Islip, N.Y., this spring [Post and Courier, 2025] and Atlantic City, which launched this month [MyHorryNews, 2026]. Breeze Chief Commercial Officer Lukas Johnson acknowledged that the airline is deliberately working to recover destinations the market lost when Spirit exited [Post and Courier, 2026]. The airline says this round will lift its January seat count at MYR by 70% over January 2026 [Aero Crew News, 2026].
Breeze founder and CEO David Neeleman framed the Grand Strand as an unusually easy call for route planners. “For Myrtle Beach, the easier question was, ‘Where can’t we?'” he said [Post and Courier, 2026]. The company has described this as one of the largest single-city expansions in its history [Post and Courier, 2026].
Our take: Breeze is not simply replacing Spirit flight for flight. Spirit’s model leaned on big hubs and connecting traffic; Breeze’s model, by its own description, targets midsize markets that lack direct service [Airport Improvement, 2026]. That changes who can easily reach the Grand Strand, which leads to the most important question for locals: who are these flights really built for?
Look at the map and a pattern jumps out. Every one of the 11 cities sits in New England, upstate New York, Pennsylvania or Ohio. Johnson said Breeze’s strategy pairs underserved Northeastern cities with popular vacation and relocation destinations in the Southeast [Post and Courier, 2026]. Earlier this year, Neeleman tied the airline’s growth here directly to the wave of people moving into the region [Airport Improvement, 2026].
In plain terms, these routes are a pipeline. They make it easier for tourists from colder markets to reach our beaches, and easier for people considering a move to visit, scout and eventually relocate. Visit Myrtle Beach President Stuart Butler welcomed the announcement as a boost for both visitors and residents [Post and Courier, 2026]. The airport now handles about 3.5 million passengers a year following its 2024 expansion [Post and Courier, 2026], and this round of routes will push that figure higher.
For residents, the value depends on how you travel:
Our take: The upside for the local economy is real, especially for hospitality businesses that live and die by summer volume. But more air access also feeds the population growth that already strains roads, schools and housing across Horry County. More flights are not just a tourism story; they are a growth story, and growth comes with costs residents pay.
That brings us to the part of the announcement that didn’t get discussed at the podium.
Big announcements tend to come with ribbon-cutting language. Accountability means asking what comes next.
Are we trading one dependency for another? The Spirit shutdown showed how quickly a heavy reliance on one low-cost carrier can turn into an overnight capacity crisis. By the second quarter of 2027, Breeze is projected to pass Allegiant as the airport’s largest carrier by routes [Post and Courier, 2026]. Breeze is young, roughly five years old [MyHorryNews, 2026], and has grown at a remarkable pace. Rapid expansion can reverse just as quickly if fuel prices, aircraft deliveries or the economy turn. Seasonal routes, in particular, are easy for any airline to trim.
What, if anything, did the public put on the table? None of the coverage reviewed for this article mentioned whether Horry County or the airport offered incentives such as fee waivers, marketing dollars or revenue guarantees to land these routes. Many airports use those tools to recruit air service. If any were offered here, taxpayers deserve to see the terms. If none were, that is worth knowing, too.
Can the airport handle it? MYR opened a terminal expansion recently and has plans for a full runway reconstruction [Post and Courier, 2026]. Layering a 70% seat increase from one carrier on top of major construction raises fair questions about scheduling, parking and passenger experience during peak months.
Will the fares hold? The $49 to $79 prices are introductory, “from” fares. The real test will be what a Myrtle Beach family pays for a July weekend in Boston once the promotion ends.
In under three years, Breeze has gone from a single flight to the airline poised to define Myrtle Beach International Airport [Post and Courier, 2026]. For residents with ties to the Northeast, the new routes open doors that closed when Spirit went dark. For tourism businesses, they deliver a steady stream of potential visitors from markets that have been hard to reach. For the county as a whole, they accelerate growth that is already reshaping where and how we live.
The announcement is good news on its face. The lesson of 2026, though, is that an airport’s fortunes can hinge on decisions made in a corporate boardroom far from Horry County. Celebrating new service and demanding transparency about what it costs, and what happens if it leaves, are not competing goals. Both are part of making sure this growth actually serves the people who live here.
Flights are available to book now at flybreeze.com. Confirm days of operation before you plan around them.
MYR’s Top Airline in 2027 – Post and Courier (Oct. 13, 2026): Breeze Airways is adding 11 Myrtle Beach routes in 2027
MYR’s Top Airline in 2027 – WPDE (Oct. 13, 2026): Breeze Airways announces 11 new nonstop flights to MYR next year
MYR’s Top Airline in 2027 – WBTW (Oct. 13, 2026): Breeze Airways adding 11 nonstop flights from Myrtle Beach International Airport
MYR’s Top Airline in 2027 – Aero Crew News (Oct. 13, 2026): Breeze Airways Adds Four New Cities, 22 New Routes in 2027 Network Expansion
MYR’s Top Airline in 2027 – AirlineGeeks (Oct. 13, 2026): Breeze Adds Four New Destinations, 22 Routes
MYR’s Top Airline in 2027 – Portland Press Herald (Oct. 13, 2026): Breeze Airways will offer direct flights between Portland and Myrtle Beach
MYR’s Top Airline in 2027 – Post and Courier (Oct. 13, 2026): Breeze adds new Charleston flight to Buffalo next year
MYR’s Top Airline in 2027 – MyHorryNews (May 2026): Breeze Airways announces new nonstop flights to Atlantic City
MYR’s Top Airline in 2027 – Airport Improvement (Feb. 2026): Breeze Announces Two New Destinations from Myrtle Beach
MYR’s Top Airline in 2027 – Post and Courier (Feb. 2026): Breeze Airways announces two new nonstop routes to Myrtle Beach
MYR’s Top Airline in 2027 – Post and Courier (Dec. 2025): Breeze Airways new flight from Islip, N.Y.
