Breeze Airways launches nonstop service between Dayton International Airport and Fort Myers, Florida, today, Friday, Oct. 23, giving Miami Valley travelers a direct Monday-and-Friday link to Southwest Florida International Airport just as snowbird season gets under way. The Dayton flight is one of three new Breeze routes starting at Fort Myers this week.
Fort Myers travelers can now fly nonstop on Breeze to Dayton on Mondays and Fridays starting Oct. 23, with one-way fares to Dayton listed from $54, according to Naples News coverage of the launch. The route joins Breeze’s Madison, Wisconsin, service, which began Oct. 21 on Wednesdays and Saturdays, and Atlantic City service, which began Oct. 22.
The Dayton expansion was first announced June 24 in a JobsOhio route announcement covering four new services, all scheduled for Mondays and Fridays. Nonstop service to Fort Lauderdale began Oct. 9, Fort Myers follows today, and Raleigh-Durham, North Carolina, starts Nov. 6, alongside a one-stop, no-plane-change BreezeThru service to Sarasota-Bradenton that also starts Nov. 6.
For Dayton passengers, the new route adds a Gulf Coast option alongside the Atlantic coast access that came with Fort Lauderdale. Fort Myers is a gateway to Fort Myers Beach, Sanibel Island and the rest of southwest Florida, a draw for Ohio leisure travelers planning winter escapes, longer holidays or visits with relatives in Florida.
Breeze has built its growth around connecting cities that typically have limited direct air service, targeting point-to-point routes where passengers would otherwise connect through a major hub. Founded in 2021, the carrier now operates more than 300 year-round and seasonal routes serving 95 cities across the United States, Mexico, Central America and the Caribbean, and it established a crew base at Southwest Florida International in 2024.
The Fort Myers airport now offers Breeze flights to more than 25 cities, and the Dayton route gives southwest Florida residents a nonstop into the Miami Valley in return — useful for visiting family, Wright-Patterson-area business and trips into southwest Ohio.
Travelers can book the Dayton-Fort Myers flights through flybreeze.com or the Breeze Airways app. Service runs Mondays and Fridays, and the companion Raleigh-Durham and Sarasota-Bradenton services join the Dayton schedule on Nov. 6.
Photo: ZLEA, CC BY-SA 4.0