Low cost carrier Avelo Airlines is moving full steam ahead, adding nine new cities out of Wilmington, Delaware Base (ILG) this summer.
Avelo seems very confident in its Delaware base, saying that they flew more than 25,000 customers in and out of the airport within its first three months of operations. Currently, the airline serves five cities, flying to Tampa, Orlando, Ft. Myers, West Palm Beach and Ft. Lauderdale.
Starting in the later half of June, the carrier will add nine additional cities out of Delaware, some of which are already served by the airline from other bases. The new cities are as follows:
- Charleston, South Carolina (CHS) – Effective June 23, 2023 – Mondays and Fridays
- Daytona Beach, Florida (DAB) – Effective June 23, 2023 – Mondays and Fridays
- Greenville / Spartanburg, South Carolina (GSP) – Effective June 22, 2023 – Thursdays and Sundays
- Melbourne / Cocoa Beach, Florida (MLB) – Effective June 28, 2023 – Wednesdays and Saturdays
- Myrtle Beach, South Carolina (MYR) – Effective June 23, 2023 – Mondays, Fridays and Saturdays
- Nashville, Tennessee (BNA) – Effective June 22, 2023 – Thursdays and Sundays
- Raleigh / Durham, North Carolina (RDU) – Effective June 22, 2023 – Thursdays and Sundays
- Savannah, Georgia / Hilton Head, South Carolina (SAV) – Effective June 28, 2023 – Wednesdays and Saturdays
- Wilmington, North Carolina (ILM) – Effective June 22, 2023 – Thursdays and Sundays
To support these additions, Avelo will add a second Boeing 737-800 at its Wilmington, Delaware base, resulting in 35 new hires out of ILG. What’s most interesting is that Avelo will be flying to and from two different cities with the same name, that being Wilmington, Delaware to Wilmington, North Carolina, so be wary when booking.
Here’s what ILG’s route network will look like come late June.
Avelo Airlines Chairman and CEO Andrew Levy said, “The strong demand we are generating out of the gate is a testament to the convenient, affordable, reliable and caring air service Avelo has introduced to the Delaware Valley. We are pleased with the enthusiastic reception Avelo has received since our airline took flight here in February. Based on this initial Customer response to our first five Florida routes, we are excited to bring Wilmington these nine new routes to several of our most popular East Coast destinations. We’re just getting started and our partnership with the DRBA, as well as leaders, organizations and communities from across the region, keeps getting stronger at every turn. I’m especially thankful for our dedicated and caring ILG-based Crewmembers who have brought Avelo’s presence here to life and look forward to welcoming even more folks to our team in the weeks and months ahead.”
It will be most interesting to see how well the Daytona Beach and Melbourne routes perform as the airline has yet to trial them. They are also planning to begin service to these destinations out of New Haven and Raleigh-Durham from late June.
For a long time, Delaware has struggled to maintain scheduled service out of its state, with a few names trying but failing to justify the viability of those routes. Frontier Airlines was the most recent, operating flights from Wilmington to Orlando from February 2021 before pulling just over a year later in June 2022. Whatever Avelo is doing has to be good for them to confidently operate to 14 cities.
[Featured Photo: Avelo Airlines/Facebook ]
