WILMINGTON — The Wilmington Airport (ILG) may still be shopping for a potential commercial airline service, but its future lies as a hub for select destinations or a connector to larger markets.
Delaware River and Bay Authority Executive Director Thomas Cook gave business leaders a top-down view of ILG, which is undergoing a $9.8 million terminal expansion, at a New Castle County Chamber of Commerce EDx Talk. Sitting next to Philadelphia Department of Aviation Chief Operating Officer Keith Brune, Cook said the strategy is to turn ILG as a complimentary service to Philadelphia International Airport (PHL).
“We are never going to be an airport that can send you to hundreds of destinations,” Cook said at the chamber event on Jan. 28. “That’s Philadelphia. We’re going to be a niche airport that can provide a great service.”
The ILG airport has now entered its third year with Avelo Airlines, offering 14 destinations across five southern states and Puerto Rico. In 2024, the airline recorded 244,406 passengers on its two planes. Avelo Airlines is a start-up company that has rapidly grown by targeting smaller markets and offering low-cost fares to select destinations — and its model has worked.
Last year, it reported a low cancellation rate of 0.48% of its 19,000 flights, well ahead of the industry average of 1.33%, according to results from data services company Anuvu.
In comparison, PHL has 27 airlines that offer 323 daily departures to more than 120 destinations worldwide. In 2024, the Philadelphia airport served 26.1 million customers. That’s 106 times the number of passengers that flew in and out of ILG.
Cook said that ILG can set itself apart is by focusing on the “three C’s” of corporate, commercial and cargo flights to support the Philadelphia region. Avelo Airlines, which reportedly approached the DRBA to serve as its first airport before it decided on Hollywood Burbank Airport, saw the possible customer demand, hoping as hundreds of thousands of people who would enjoy an hour shorter drive to an airport with destinations in warmer climates.
“This whole airport is not about the airline; it’s about the customer service. Everyone’s conditioned to get to the airport two hours early, and here you can get through TSA screening very quickly. The most important thing to a customer is if they can get to their destination quickly. And it’s a tough business to be in,” Cook said.
Addressing the other “C’s” in corporate and cargo, Cook added that ILG is home to 50 corporate jets, one of the largest in the mid-Atlantic. The Delaware Air National Guard also handles 25,000 pounds of equipment, all taken to different corners of the world.
To help maximize the customer service experience, the DRBA signed on with Landline American Airlines to offer coach service from ILG to PHL in October 2024. Customers can go through TSA screening in the Delaware airport and bypass that process in Philadelphia. Since the service began, 5,000 Delaware customers have used the tarmac-to-tarmac service.
Cook also pointed out that the hour distance between the two airports requires there be some synergy between the two, especially since ILG does not have the property to expand and compete.
Once its expansion is complete, ILG can triple the capacity of the terminal and possibly entice another airline. PHL is more than 2,000 acres in size and has four runways.
“What separates our airport from Philadelphia is the ability to park close to the terminal and the ability to get through quickly,” Cook said. “We don’t have the infrastructure or the property to create the atmosphere they have. Quite honestly, the congestion from Route 13 also wouldn’t work.”
“I think the beauty of having such things like Landline and vacation destinations is that it creates our niche. That’s what’s going to take us to success,” he continued.
Brune noted that it’s also about geography, as airlines need to fill at least 70% of the seats every flight to be profitable. As PHL targets some of the Wilmington customers as well as Allentown or Harrisburg, it’s also likely that some customers closer to Dover and Salisbury, Md. will come to ILG for the destinations and the convenience offered.
In fact, Brune noted that PHL supports 4,550 jobs in New Castle County out of the 103,000 jobs in all. The terminal is 3 million square feet in size.
“In one respect, we have some of that business and collaboration. I think there’s other opportunities with ILG and other carriers, but it is a challenge,” Brune said.
