Sep 15, 2021

Avelo will initiate service from Tweed — its first East Coast base — to Florida

NEW HAVEN — Soon after Avelo Airlines begins flying from Tweed New Haven Regional Airport to four Florida cities in early November, it will add a fifth destination — Palm Beach — the airline announced Wednesday.

Beginning Dec. 16, daily flights to Palm Beach International Airport will join a roster of Avelo Tweed destinations that also includes Orlando, Fort Lauderdale, Fort Myers and Tampa.

In addition, Avelo, the first airline to offer nonstop flights between Tweed and Florida, will increase the frequency of flights to Fort Myers and Tampa over the peak holiday season, the airline announced. As with the other destinations, introductory fares from New Haven to Palm Beach will begin at $59. All Avelo flights can be booked at AveloAir.com.

Avelo will initiate service from Tweed — its first East Coast base — to Florida with flights to and from Orlando on Nov. 3, with Fort Lauderdale also beginning later that week.

“Getting from Connecticut to one of the world’s most coveted oceanfront resorts is now more convenient than ever,” said Avelo Chairman and CEO Andrew Levy.

“The addition of Palm Beach to Avelo’s portfolio of five sun-soaked Florida destinations demonstrates our commitment to providing Connecticut with the choice and convenience its residents want,” Levy said.

“We’re very excited to add yet another nonstop destination to Tweed-New Haven and to build upon our existing partnership with Avelo Airlines,” said Sean Scanlon, executive director of the Tweed New Haven Airport Authority.

“Avelo and our long-time operator, Avports, are already hiring local residents for new jobs at the airport in support of this increased activity,” Scanlon said. “Together, we’re turning Tweed New Haven into a more vibrant and sustainable airport, one that is already growing over one hundred new jobs and will serve as an economic driver for our region for years to come.”

The Palm Beach flight, Flight XP345, will depart Tweed at 7 a.m., arriving at Palm Beach International at 10:10 a.m.

The return flight, Flight XP346, will depart Palm Beach at 10:50 a.m. and arrive in New Haven at 1:40 p.m.

Avelo also will increase the frequency of its flights between Tweed to Fort Myers from three days per week to daily from Dec. 16 through Jan. 4, 2022, the airline said. Avelo’s service between New Haven and Fort Myers begins Nov. 11.

Avelo also will increase the frequency of its flights between Tweed and Tampa from four days per week to daily from Dec. 16 through Jan. 4, 2022. Avelo’s scheduled service between New Haven and Tampa begins Nov. 8.

In addition to Fort Myers, Palm Beach and Tampa, Avelo will serve Fort Lauderdale and Orlando.

Avelo will operate single-class, 147-awR Boeing 737-700 Next Gen aircraft at Tweed. The airline has touted Tweed as a simpler, easier travel experience compared to other airports Connecticut residents use, without the long lines and long walks found at other airports.

Avelo became the nation’s first new scheduled airline in nearly 15 years when it began service from its initial base at Hollywood Burbank Airport near Los Angeles on April 28, 2021. It currently serves 10 destinations across the western U.S.

The start of its service will mark the first time Tweed has served more than two destinations at a time since the airport’s mid-1990s peak, when it offered United service to Chicago, United Express service Washington, D.C., USAir Express service to Philadelphia and Continental Express service to Newark.

Airport and local officials have said that Tweed’s expansion will create 1,000 new construction jobs and 175 permanent jobs. Avelo is currently hiring more than 100 New Haven-based employees, Levy said.

Avelo has agreed to pay for $1.2 million in improvements to Tweed’s existing terminal as part of an agreement between Tweed, Avelo and airport manager Avports LLC. That’s in addition to $2.8 million that Avports will provide for additional upgrades to the current terminal and airport infrastructure in advance of the start of Avelo’s service.

Tweed and Avports officials also announced plans for a project eventually totaling more than $100 million to lengthen Tweed’s existing runway by 1,035 feet to clear the way for more direct flights to more destinations and build a new, carbon-neutral, 74,000-square-foot terminal — roughly three times the size of the existing terminal — with four gates, expandable to six gates, on the East Haven side of the airport.

A new entrance to the airport, which straddles the New Haven-East Haven border, would be off Proto Drive in East Haven, with an approach along Hemingway Avenue.

Avports, under a proposed new 43-year contract with Tweed — which leases the airport from the city — would front the money for the project, eliminating the need for existing state and city subsidies, which currently total $1.8 million per year. A proposed 43-year lease extension currently is pending before the Board of Alders.

mark.zaretsky@hearstmediact.com