On March 20, Avelo Airlines published two press releases on new flights from their Tweed-New Haven (HVN) base and seasonal flights from Central Wisconsin Airport (CWA) to Orlando International Airport (MCO).
In their first press release published that day, Avelo Airlines announced the launch of new flights to Houston Hobby (HOU), St. Louis Lambert International Airport (STL), and Cherry Capital Airport (TVC; serves Traverse City, Michigan) from their HVN base. Avelo Airlines launched scheduled flights from HVN on November 3, 2021, with an inaugural flight to MCO as part of a larger route launch involving five other routes connecting HVN and Florida. Since then, Avelo Airlines continues to be the sole scheduled carrier operating out of HVN at the time this text was published.
Previously, American Airlines subsidiary American Eagle operated some flights out of HVN, but gradually withdrew from the airport. According to a Rich Coppola text via WTNH.com, American terminated its last flights from HVN to Philadelphia (PHL) on September 30, 2021. Since then, Avelo Airlines has invested over a million US dollars into HVN’s infrastructure, with airport operator Avports having announced another $100 million worth of investment into the airport at the time of Avelo’s new hub launch (thanks to this AirlineGeeks text by Winston Shek for explaining this distinguishment). HVN is one of only two airports with scheduled service in the state of Connecticut and is positioned relatively closely to the New York City metropolitan area and its numerous airports.
In their same press release on new flights from HVN, Avelo Airlines announced that a sixth Boeing 737 will be based at HVN as a result of the new flights. Meanwhile, Avelo Airlines arranged the lease of an additional four Boeing 737-800s and a single Boeing 737-700 from struggling Brazilian low-cost carrier Gol back in February, according to Aviation Week Network. Gol had recently been approved to borrow money in bankruptcy at the end of January.
Applications for scheduled service to Mexico and the Dominican Republic
On March 22, Ishrion Aviation picked up an interesting nugget when they posted on X that Avelo Airlines plans to debut scheduled international operations with flights to Mexico and the Dominican Republic. Ishrion Aviation theorized that cities including Cancun, Puerto Vallarta, Los Cabos, and Punta Cana could be among the debut international destinations. However, Ishrion Aviation also noted that many of Avelo’s bases lack the inspection stations needed to host international flights, theorizing that Raleigh-Durham (RDU) could be a candidate for new flights to Punta Cana (PUJ). All that is certain so far is that Avelo Airlines indeed filed two separate applications with the US Department of Transportation (DOT) for authorization of scheduled international flights to Mexico and the Dominican Republic on March 22. When asked for comment, Avelo Airlines told BiltenY that the applications were filed to secure authorization for potential scheduled operations to certain foreign countries for which such DOT filings are required. They added that they’re looking at more international flights for which no applications have been filed to the DOT, and that they will publish more information on those plans later this year.
March 27 UPDATE: Today Avelo Airlines announced an additional route connecting HVN with Lakeland Linder International Airport (LAL). According to Avelo Airlines’ press release, this is Lakeland Linder’s first scheduled passenger flight in over 10 years.