Avelo Airlines announces new nonstop flights from Melbourne airport to Conn., N.C.
Avelo Airlines will launch new nonstop twice-weekly flights linking Melbourne Orlando International Airport with New Haven, Connecticut, and Raleigh-Durham, North Carolina.
Starting June 21, Avelo will fly to Tweed-New Haven Airport on Wednesdays and Saturdays. Service to Raleigh-Durham International Airport will start June 23, featuring flights on Mondays and Fridays.
Avelo flies Boeing 737 aircraft capable of carrying 147 to 189 passengers. Melbourne will become the airline's 43rd destination city, spread across 24 states from coast to coast.
“These two new routes are just the start. I talked to our planning teams yesterday, and we already have a couple of dots that we're going to connect to Melbourne probably in the next week or so, just because we're continually seeing this area grow," said Courtney Goff, Avelo's communications manager.
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Goff made the announcement during a Thursday morning press conference between Gates 7 and 8 in the Melbourne passenger terminal's new $72 million expansion area, which was designed to accommodate TUI's Boeing 787 Dreamliners.
Introductory one-way fares to New Haven start at $49, while one-way fares to Raleigh-Durham start at $29, said Goff — "you could do a quick trip to the Research Triangle for 60 bucks." The airline website is aveloair.com.
“When it comes (to) airline service, you got different scales. You can have some really low-cost, but low-service operators. And then you have high-cost operators," said Greg Donovan, airport executive director.
"These folks really hit the sweet spot. They're very affordable," Donovan said.
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Last week, TUI kicked off its second season of flights bringing vacation-package tourists from eight cities in the United Kingdom to Melbourne. The Melbourne airport's other airlines and routes:
Delta Air Lines: daily nonstop service to Atlanta, Georgia
American Airlines: daily nonstop service to Charlotte, North Carolina, and Saturday nonstop service to Washington, D.C.
Allegiant: twice-weekly nonstop service to Nashville, Tennessee, and Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania.
Sun Country: twice-weekly nonstop service to Minneapolis-St. Paul, Minnesota.
"We expect in excess of 850,000 passengers using our airport (this year), which would be an all-time record," Jack Ryals, the airport's senior adviser for local and regional affairs, said Thursday during a Melbourne Regional Chamber breakfast presentation at Crowne Plaza Melbourne-Oceanfront.
Avelo is expanding across Florida. On Wednesday, the low-cost carrier announced it will launch twice-weekly service linking Daytona Beach International Airport with New Haven, Connecticut, starting June 22.
The airline also operates in Orlando, West Palm Beach, Fort Lauderdale, Tampa, Sarasota/Bradenton and Fort Myers.
“We started flying in April of 2021. So we're about to hit our 2-year-old birthday — but in that time frame, we've already flown over 2 million customers and over 15,000 flights," Goff said.
Goff said Avelo flies 15 planes, with plans to boost its fleet to 20 aircraft by year's end. The airline's five bases of operation are located in New Haven, Raleigh-Durham, Orlando, Los Angeles and Wilmington, Delaware.
“The Avelo announcement is a really big deal for our community," said Michael Ayers, president and CEO of the Melbourne Regional Chamber. "It's great to see more domestic air service coming in. And now, it's incumbent on our local community to support the airline and buy tickets, and hopefully see the routes grow.
"As Avelo grows, we want to see more routes come in," Ayers said.
Melbourne Mayor Paul Alfrey, who also attended Thursday's press conference, concurred.
"I'm pretty excited about this. Because I've always heard our residents say they want more and more flights," Alfrey said.
"Seeing a carrier like this, I'm hoping that they expand their routes," he said.
At the Melbourne airport, the five-story, 143-room Hyatt Place "fly-in hotel" under construction just west of the terminal should now open in late May, airport spokesperson Keely Leggett said. The hotel, which has endured supply-chain delays, will feature a rooftop bar and outdoor swimming pool.
Rick Neale is the South Brevard Watchdog Reporter at FLORIDA TODAY (for more of his stories, click here.) Contact Neale at 321-242-3638 or rneale@floridatoday.com. Twitter: @RickNeale1
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This article originally appeared on Florida Today: Avelo to start flights from MLB airport to Connecticut, North Carolina
