Avelo to restart some suspended routes in May

Avelo Airlines is restarting flights to some destinations in the Carolinas in May. | PHOTO COURTESY OF AVELO AIRLINES

NEW CASTLE – Avelo Airlines announced last week that two of its suspended routes from Wilmington Airport (ILG) would restart in early May.

Flights to Wilmington, N.C., and Myrtle Beach, S.C., will restart on May 3 and fly twice a week thereafter, the airline reported. Bookings for those flights are now live.

In its first year of flying from ILG, Houston-based Avelo broke the record for most commercial passengers served from Delaware in a year, despite not launching until February 2023. After the airline began to suspend some flights and decrease the frequency of others, however, many locals began to grow worried about the prospects of long-term flights from Wilmington – a fear based on the market’s longtime difficulties in retaining commercial air service.

For its part, Avelo reported that its changes in service were only to match market demand in the less-traveled winter months between Jan. 10 and April 30. It also allowed time for maintenance work on its aircraft fleet – to reduce costs, Avelo only buys used aircraft – and to complete future planning.

“Avelo will continue to work with the airport and DRBA on more opportunities. While we are lessening the number of markets we currently serve, we are still flying Delaware’s most popular routes and will continue our trend of being America’s most convenient and reliable airline,” said Courtney Goff, an Avelo spokesperson.

Aside from the Carolina flights that are returning, flights to Nashville and Daytona Beach, Fla., are still suspended until at least June 11.

Other routes, including those to Fort Lauderdale, Orlando, Fort Myers, and Tampa, have seen frequency reductions, typically affecting Tuesday flights.

Despite those changes, Avelo held the lowest flight cancellation rate in the U.S. last year and the second-best on-time performance, according to market research firm Anuvu.

In 2023, Avelo canceled 0.18% of its flights compared to an industry average of 1.3% while 82.8% of all its flights arrived at their destinations within 15 minutes of their scheduled arrival time compared to an industry average of 77.7%.

“Avelo is entering 2024 positively positioned for the significant opportunities ahead of us. Our commitment to operational excellence paid dividends in 2023, exemplified by Avelo’s substantial improvements in flight reliability. Our customers depend on us for a smooth and convenient travel experience, and all of us at Avelo are very proud of the industry-leading reliability we provided them last year and that we are poised to continue delivering in the year ahead. 2023 was our best and busiest year yet, and 2024 promises to be even more so,” Avelo Airlines founder, Chairman and CEO Andrew Levy said in a statement.

Last year, Avelo flew 2.3 million customers, an 85% increase over 2022, on about 17,000 flights to more than 60 different destinations. It now has 16 Boeing Next-Generation 737 aircraft and expects to add up to five more in 2024.