The Delaware River and Bay Authority reported that Avelo Airlines crossed the 50,000-passenger mark at Wilmington Airport (ILG).
Spokesman James Salmon said the figure that includes May flights includes both inbound and outbound traffic.
Orlando was the top destination with nearly 16,000 passengers, followed by Fort Meyers with 9,725 and Tampa with 9,600. Load factors were good, Salmon reported.
Avelo had earlier reported 25,000 passengers during its first 90 days in Delaware, above forecasts.
Avelo is poised to ramp up service from Delaware beginning on the 20th of June, with flights to Daytona Beach, FL, Savannah; Wilmington and Raleigh-Durham, NC Greensboro, Myrtle Beach, and Charleston, SC, and Nashville. One change is not offering previously announced service to Melbourne, FL.
In addition to Orlando, Fort Meyers, and Tampa, Avelo currently offers flights from Wilmington to West Palm Beach and Fort Lauderdale.
The expansion will result in Avelo basing two Boeing 737 jets and about 100 employees in Delaware.
Avelo is betting it can siphon off passengers from Philadelphia International Airport airlines with low fares, shorter lines, cheaper parking, and bigger aircraft. American and its affiliates sometimes use cramped regional jets to serve smaller cities.
Flights are typically twice a week.
Frontier uses a similar approach to Avelo out of Philly, flying to a couple of dozen destinations a few times a week. That does not usually lead to a strong response from American Airlines, since Frontier often offers a limited schedule that mainly targets leisure travelers.
Frontier offers fall and winter all-you-can-fly pass
Frontier Airlines has added a fall and winter all-you-fly pass for $299.
The GoWild! pass is valid for unlimited travel from Sept. 2, 2023, through Feb. 29, 2024, and includes access to more than 85 U.S. and international destinations.
Also launched was a new early booking promotion. Pass holders can visit FlyFrontier.com between now and June 13 to book flights from Sept. 5 through Nov. 15 (within their seasonal or annual pass validity period) without the standard advance reservation window of one day before departure for domestic travel and 10 days before departure for international travel. Seats are limited and blackout periods, Thanksgiving and Christmas, come to mind, apply.
New pass holders can book travel immediately following their pass purchase. For each GoWild flight, pass holders pay $0.01 in airfare plus applicable taxes, fees, and charges at the time of booking. Seats available to pass holders are capacity controlled, limited in quantity, and are being offered on a first-come, first-served basis while supplies last.
For bookings made June 14 onward, pass holders may continue to make reservations using their GoWild! Pass under the standard booking window and program terms.
The GoWild pass allows the low-fare carrier to fill seats on its newer fleet of Airbus jets. It still gets revenue from baggage fees, seat assignments and other charges. Frontier flies out of Philadelphia International Airport and Baltimore-Washington Marshal. Frontier is No. 2 in passenger boardings from Philadelphia.
