By Zach Cooke
Avelo Airlines Expands Route Network in Florida
On Thursday, Avelo Airlines announced a new destination in its route network: Melbourne, Fla. This announcement comes one day after the airline announced a new service to Daytona Beach, Fla., marking aggressive expansion for the relatively new airline. The carrier will connect Melbourne with New Haven, Conn. and Raleigh-Durham, N.C.
With the most recent announcement, the Houston-based carrier will now operate to eight Florida destinations, with two new destinations announced in the past two days. Flights out of Melbourne, Fla. will begin on June 21 with service to New Haven. Raleigh-Durham will begin on June 23. Both services will operate twice weekly.
Melbourne has seen an uptick in traffic over the past couple of years and significant facility upgrades. In 2021, the airport completed a $72 million expansion to be able to handle new services from TUI to multiple destinations in Europe after the airline left Orlando’s Sanford Airport.
On Wednesday, the airline also announced a new service to Daytona Beach, Fla. The airline will fly from New Haven to Daytona Beach twice weekly beginning on June 22.
Daytona Beach has seen several operators and routes come and go in recent years. Jetblue operated to the city out of New York’s John F. Kennedy International airport up until January 2019. Silver Airways also made a short stint operating out of the airport to Fort Lauderdale, however, suspended the route in July 2019. This new route will reconnect the Florida city to the northeast.
Daytona Beach and Melbourne to New Haven will be operated on Boeing 737-700s, while the Melbourne to Raleigh-Durham service will be operated on Avelo’s Boeing 737-800s. However, aircraft swaps do occur and this is subject to change.
Avelo’s route structure of point-to-point is further exemplified by the announcements of late. Since beginning operations on the East Coast in late 2021, the carrier has added 31 cities to its route map on the eastern seaboard.
