Avelo drops 6 cities as it extends schedule to January, doubles down on New Haven and San Juan

Avelo Airlines has extended its schedule through early 2025, opening its booking channels for the holiday season and beyond. The carrier — which launched operations more than three years ago — will serve 49 destinations spanning 23 states and Puerto Rico, including 16 new destinations launched in recent months.

However, it's also making some network cuts in the process — a move that the airline said is about trimming routes that haven't been profitable.

Specifically, Avelo plans to pull out of a half-dozen cities altogether, TPG learned Tuesday.

The Houston-based ultra-low-cost carrier will cease operations at six small airports — either ending service in August or not resuming winter seasonal routes that operated this past year.

Network changes

Here's a rundown of Avelo's planned market exits:

• Lansing Airport (LAN) in Michigan — won't resume winter seasonal service
• Kalamazoo/Battle Creek International Airport (AZO) in Michigan — won't resume winter seasonal service
• Dubuque Regional Airport (DBQ) in Iowa — won't resume winter seasonal service
• Central Wisconsin Airport (CWA) — service ends Aug. 31
• Greater Binghamton Airport (BGM) in New York — service ends Aug. 18
• Brownsville South Padre Island International Airport (BRO) in Texas — service ends Aug. 31

In announcing the news, the carrier noted it's "grateful for the support" it received from these communities; however, it said service from these six airports has not been profitable and likely won't be in the foreseeable future.

"Every route Avelo flies must be profitable or be on a trend line towards that goal," the company said in a statement Tuesday. "In most cases, the routes we enter succeed and we continue service. However, with those that do not – like these six — we must make the difficult decision to exit the route and better utilize our resources in high-growth opportunities elsewhere in our network."

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At five of the six airports above, Avelo served just one destination in 2024: Orlando International Airport (MCO). From Brownsville, the airline served not only Orlando but also its Hollywood Burbank Airport (BUR) base. One interesting sidenote is that Brownsville was Avelo's only city to be connected to both its East Coast and West Coast operations. Once that destination falls off Avelo's map, the carrier's eastern and western networks will have no overlap.

Small airports' challenges persistent in recent years

These cuts are sure to be disappointing news in these cities — some of which have struggled to land commercial air service in recent years. In April, TPG highlighted those specific challenges in Dubuque and at numerous other airports across the country. These challenges have been persistent since the pandemic.

Avelo sees growth potential

For Avelo's part, these changes are meant to facilitate future growth for the young airline.

"These changes allow us to double down on the high-growth opportunities ahead of us in our existing network," the company said. It noted it will "have more to share" later this month, perhaps teasing future plans to bolster service elsewhere.

Avelo has seen strong growth at some of its bases in recent months, to be sure. Most notably, the carrier has grown at a rapid pace this year out of Tweed New Haven Airport (HVN) in Connecticut.

This summer, Avelo's scheduled seats out of New Haven are set to grow nearly 40% over last summer, Cirium data shows. It has grown at a similar pace in Burbank.

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The carrier also recently opened a new crew base at Charles M. Schulz Sonoma County Airport (STS) in Santa Rosa, in the heart of California's wine country.

Schedule extension

Though Avelo's schedule extension into early January did not feature any new routes, the carrier noted it will increase its service frequency between New Haven and Luis Munoz International Airport (SJU) in San Juan, Puerto Rico. Starting in November, Avelo will operate four weekly round trips instead of two — with flights running on Fridays and Mondays, in addition to its current Wednesday and Saturday schedule.

To date, Avelo has served 4.8 million customers on 38,000 flights since commencing service in April 2021.

Travelers can currently book Avelo flights through Jan. 7, 2025.

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