Second warm weather destination coming to Lansing airport
The first regular Lansing-to-Orlando direct flight in years is two months away but the airline expanding passenger service out of Lansing is already adding a second Florida route.
Houston-based Avelo Airlines, which announced passenger service from the Capital Region International Airport to Orlando in July, said Tuesday it will also begin a Lansing to Fort Meyers, Florida, route this fall.
Andrew Levy, CEO of the airline, said the company made the decision to add the Fort Meyers connection based on early bookings for Orlando flights and a new route out of Lansing that will help to establish Fort Meyers as an Avelo Airlines hub.
"To say we're pleased with initial bookings to Orlando would be an understatement, we're adding a second destination to Fort Meyers," said Jim Olson, head of communications for Avelo.
He said the strong Orlando bookings led to the second route and, if bookings continue to be strong, there could be additional routes coming to Lansing.
The Orlando route begins Oct. 26 and the Fort Meyers one starts on Nov. 11.
The airline also opened up Fort Meyers and Orlando flights out of Kalamazoo/Battle Creek International Airport.
Two new passenger routes are some of the biggest changes at the airport in years, said Nicole Noll-Williams, president and CEO of the airport. The airport has also expanded cargo capacity and is looking at recruiting companies to help develop land around the airport.
The early success of the Orlando route and now another one opening is good for flyers in Lansing and could lead to more routes from Avelo and other carriers, Noll-Williams said.
Avelo Airlines, a budget carrier launched about a year and a half ago, came to Lansing with the July announcement of the Orlando route.
The Orlando direct flights, on Thursdays and Sundays, have booked well and the second route is opening with initial prices of around $79, Levy said. The company offered an introductory rate of $59 for one-way flights to Orlando booked by the end of July and completed before Feb. 15.
Levy said he knows Lansing is a good market and fits into Avelo's business plan of finding underserved routes, especially routes that don't currently exist to places that are in demand.
Levy was with Allegiant Airlines in the early 2000s when it began offering service out of Lansing. The airline stopped an Orlando route in 2015, and other flights also disappeared around that time.
The airline has 27 destinations, including major hubs in Burbank, California; New Haven, Connecticut; and Orlando.
There are about 425 passengers a day who leave Lansing and end up in Orlando, through connecting flights, Noll-Williams said.
More than 200 people a day also leave Lansing and go to Fort Meyers, she said.
Fort Meyers is another one of the top places people want to fly to from Lansing. Other popular destinations include Washington, D.C., Las Vegas, Denver and Atlanta, she said.
This article originally appeared on Lansing State Journal: Lansing's airport adding another direct flight Florida destination
