Could commercial flights take off in Lakeland again?
LAKELAND, Fla. (WFLA) — Lakeland Linder International Airport is trying to make itself a welcoming new home.
“We hope to have two screening lanes to process passengers quickly. Right now this is just a square box,” said assistant airport director Adam Lunn, pointing to what was once, and could soon be again, a TSA screening area.
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The City of Lakeland is in its final approval stages to bring in Avelo Airlines. It would be the first time in a decade the airport had a commercial airline on property. Previous attempts at commercial air service at the airport have failed.
“Our growth is different now. The number of people that live here is different now. The need for airlines to have more affordable and flexible departure cities is different and growth of mid-size airlines is different,” said Mayor Bill Mutz.
The mayor said every day, 2,200 people in Polk County travel to and from other airports for flights.
He hopes come next summer, some of them will choose to fly Avelo out of Lakeland instead.
“Avelo has grown very quickly and they’re continuing to grow and their plans are to do that as a value airline and that is a great way for us to get started and I think we really found a combination to make it happen,” said Mayor Mutz.
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Avelo Airlines is described as an “ultra low-cost air carrier” that began operations in April 2021, according to its pending deal with the city.
Avelo currently has 16 Boeing 737s in its fleet and flies to 44 destinations in the U.S., the deal reads.
Neither the airline nor city officials are sharing any potential destinations for the Lakeland flights.
“We are excited about the opportunity for Avelo to bring scheduled commercial air service to Lakeland Linder International Airport. In the months ahead, we’ll share more details about our plans for serving Lakeland,” Avelo spokesperson Courtney Goff wrote in a statement.
In order to serve commercial airline passengers, the airport will need $3.4 million in upgrades, officials said.
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“One of the biggest changes will be what’s called federalization where we have to prepare ourselves and get ready for Transportation Security Administration to come in and provide different security aspects and screening services for the service once it starts,” said Lunn.
Other improvements will involve parking and ramp infrastructure.
The Lakeland City Commission is set to vote on several agreements related to the Avelo deal on Monday.
The flights could start taking off by next summer.
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