Avelo adds 3 new routes, but quietly drops one of its newest cities
It's been a busy two weeks in Avelo's network planning department.
The new startup airline, which first launched flights in April 2021, has been fine-tuning its route map, with the latest batch of announcements covering three new routes.
The first one came on Oct. 13 and includes new service between Las Vegas (LAS) and Fort Collins (FNL), Colorado. Those flights launch on Dec. 15 on a twice-weekly basis aboard one of Avelo's Boeing 737-800s.
The new route to Fort Collins joins the carrier's existing service there from its Burbank hub. The carrier is positioning Fort Collins as an alternative to flying to Denver's main international airport, which can get busy and is located far east of the city.
Fort Collins is about 50 miles north of downtown Denver, and it could be more convenient for some travelers based in the city's northern suburbs.
This week, the carrier continued its Las Vegas expansion with a new route to Redding, California (RDD), which takes off Jan. 6, 2022. The flights will operate twice-weekly on Thursdays and Sundays — perfect for those looking for an easy weekend getaway.
Fort Collins and Redding bring the number of destinations that Avelo serves from Las Vegas to four. In September, the carrier landed in Sin City for the first time, with its inaugural route there to Santa Rosa, California (STS). In November, the airline will add flights to Vegas from the Redwood Coast-Humboldt County Airport (ACV) near the northern California town of Eureka.
Meanwhile, Avelo is gearing up for a big launch from its newest focus city, located on the East Coast. The airline is setting up shop in New Haven, Connecticut (HVN), after working with the city and relevant authorities to upgrade the Tweed airport for commercial flights aboard a 737 jet.
To date, Avelo has announced five routes – all to Florida — from Tweed. On Thursday, the airline unveiled its sixth route from New Haven to another Florida city. This latest announcement includes a new route to Sarasota/Bradenton (SRQ), joining service to Tampa and Fort Myers on Florida's west coast.
Sarasota service will commence on Jan. 13 with three weekly flights.
While it appears that Avelo keeps growing, it hasn't exclusively been good news. Despite the splashy press releases, the airline has quietly cut three of its new markets before flights even took off.
The latest casualty is Provo, Utah, which was supposed to first launch on Sept. 17 with flights from Burbank. The service was then delayed until Nov. 15, and now it's getting canceled altogether.
Provo joins Monterey, California (MRY), and St. George, Utah (SGU), as three Avelo markets that were announced in late July but never actually took off. Only one of the four markets that were unveiled then actually commenced as planned (Fort Collins).
For its part, Avelo blames the surge in the delta variant for all three markets "not gaining traction." The airline will "take another look down the road when conditions are hopefully more favorable," a carrier spokesperson added.
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