Another airline adds service to area airports

TAMPA —Avelo Airlines will begin flying to New Haven, Connecticut out of two area airports just in time to see the New England leaves change.

Avelo, which began flying in April, has announced that it will fly non-stop to Tweed New Haven Airport in November out of Tampa International Airport and Southwest Florida International Airport in Fort Myers. Service out of Tampa starts Nov. 15 and out of Fort Myers Nov. 11. Flights will run three times a week out of Tampa and twice a week from Southwest Florida.

Avelo also announced it would begin flying to Fort Lauderdale-Hollywood International Airport and Orlando International Airport.

The expansion makes Avelo the first airline to offer nonstop flights between New Haven and Florida, according to a press release.

The airline was founded by Andrew Levy, a former chief financial officer at United Airlines and a co-founder of Allegiant Air. It flies 147-seat Boeing 737-700 Next Gen aircrafts.

Since its first flight out of Burbank, California in April, it has flown more than 1,250 flights and has only canceled three flights, according to the release. 

The new routes to New Haven are just the latest in an avalanche of new non-stop destinations to come online at local airports thus far this year.

By one count, airports from Naples to Tampa have added nearly 70 new destinations across the country and overseas to locales as varied as Germany and Arkansas, Oregon and Iowa, California and Canada.

Tourism officials and business leaders say having access to a slew of new markets is an opportunity to reach a batch of potential new travelers and opens new markets.