Avelo Airlines has extended its Wilmington (ILG) schedule into early June. The schedule had been posted through late April.
Some of the more than a dozen cities served by the airline last year from Wilmington are not yet showing up on the schedule. They are Greensboro and Raleigh, NC; Savannah, GA; Daytona Beach, FL; and Nashville.
The revised timetable is bad news for travelers to the above destinations who thought service might resume this spring and have vented their frustrations on social media while predicting that the airline, like others before it, will eventually exit the Delaware airport. Airline officials and industry analysts told Delaware Online that service changes are common in the industry and that Avelo remains committed to the Delaware Airport.
Now on the timetable into early June are Orlando, Tampa, Fort Lauderdale, Fort Meyers, and West Palm Beach in Florida, as well as San Juan, Puerto Rico. Service to Wilmington, NC, and Myrtle Beach, SC, will resume in May. Flights to those destinations range from two to as many as five times a week for Orlando. The Avelo website shows Sarasota service ending in late April.
Avelo is adjusting its schedule as it works toward profitability. Based on regulatory filings, Avelo and other ultra-low-fare lines saw a soft third quarter last year. Another factor in early 2024 is scheduled maintenance on Avelo aircraft and delayed deliveries of new (to Avelo) Boeing 737 jets.
Avelo faces competition from Frontier Airlines in Philadelphia. The airline offered comparable fares to those offered by Avelo to some of the destinations served by the airlines.
In a New Year’s message, Avelo CEO Andrew Levy said more jets and flights are coming in 2024 throughout the airline’s system. Recently, the airline signed a 15-year agreement with the operator of the airport in Lakeland FL, a city between Orlando and Tampa that the Avelo may view as a Wilmington-like destination.
Avelo has seen its greatest success from its two original destinations, Burbank, CA, and New Haven, CT. Routes have been dropped and added from the two cities since the airline’s debut in 2021.
Last year, Avelo reported more than 200,000 people arrived or departed on its flights from Wilmington. The Christmas holiday saw packed parking lots at the Delaware airport.
Avelo launched service from Wilmington in February of last year and later added cities outside Florida, citing stronger-than-expected passenger traffic.
