Airline reveals first 5 destinations from McKinney National Airport, schedules first flights
Commercial air service from Collin County will take off in November when the inaugural Avelo Airlines flight from McKinney National Airport (DTX) departs for Fort Myers, Florida.
Avelo Airlines said in a news release Tuesday that service will begin on Wednesday, Nov. 11. In addition to Fort Myers, Avelo will take passengers to Orlando, Tampa and Fort Lauderdale, Florida, as well as Las Vegas, Nevada.
"McKinney was always on the list as a place we thought would be really interesting," founder and CEO Andrew Levy said. "We knew there was interest in the community."
Introductory fares start at $99 each way, and passengers who book by the end of July will get one checked bag free, the airline said.
The airline will operate 184-seat Boeing 737s from DTX and is creating more than 100 jobs in North Texas to support operations, the company said.
Bringing commercial flights to McKinney
The first flight from DTX will come more than four years after the city of McKinney began publicly exploring the possibility. Former Mayor George Fuller was one of the main backers of the idea, touting the potential economic benefits to the city and Collin County.
Not everyone in the city was on board with the idea, with neighbors worried about increased noise and traffic that commercial air service could bring. To that end, residents voted down a $200 million bond proposal in 2023 that would have gone towards the estimated $300 million price tag for the terminal and other infrastructure.
The city council was able to find other ways to fund construction and approved zoning changes in 2024, which paved the way for construction to begin. The passenger terminal will have four gates with room to expand to six.
The North Texas Conservation Alliance filed a federal lawsuit challenging the Federal Aviation Administration's approval of an environmental impact study for the airport, but the case was dismissed.
"As growth continues to reshape North Texas, McKinney is playing an increasingly important role in the region's future. This new service reflects the demand for convenient air travel closer to home and reinforces McKinney's position as a destination for residents, businesses, and investment," current Mayor Bill Cox said in a statement Tuesday.
Avelo Airlines is the first, and so far only, carrier with an agreement to fly from DTX.
Airport director Ken Carley said the announcement should silence skeptics who doubted the city could expand the small airport and secure a carrier to offer DFW air travelers a third option.
"It's kind of really becoming tangible," Carley said. "People can see where the airline intends to fly, what the airfares are, what the schedule is, what the routes are, so all that really is those are questions we've been asked for five years, but we couldn't answer; now we can."
What is Avelo Airlines?
Avelo Airlines launched in April of 2021, focusing largely on leisure travel and flying into less crowded secondary airports. McKinney National Airport will be its fifth main base, joining New Haven, Connecticut (between New York and Boston), Concord, North Carolina (near Charlotte), Wilmington, Delaware (near Philadelphia) and Lakeland, Florida (between Tampa and Orlando).
Avelo currently flies one route from North Texas, connecting Dallas-Fort Worth International Airport with New Haven twice per week.
The airline is based in Houston but only flies one route from there, also to New Haven.
"I think we're known for three things: everyday low fares, great reliability and we're one of the leaders in the last three years and running on time performance," Levy said. "I think the consumer is the winner here. It creates options for them."
Avelo drew controversy last year when it started operating deportation flights for U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE). Levy said at the time that Avelo agreed to operate the flights to ensure financial stability. However, the agreement ended in January after it did not "deliver enough consistent and predictable revenue to overcome its operational complexity and costs," the company said to CBS News.
