Avelo Airlines expands flights out of Delaware to include Nashville, Myrtle Beach, and beyond

Since restoring passenger airline service to Delaware in February, Avelo Airlines has carried more than 25,000 passengers to and from the airport outside Wilmington. In that time, flights were only scheduled to five cities in Florida.

After a successful few months, the airline announced expansion plans that will add another nine destinations across several states in the southeast. The new flights will head to popular tourist destinations, including Nashville, Myrtle Beach, and Daytona Beach.

“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,” Avelo CEO Andrew Levy said. “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.”

Tom Cook, who heads up the Delaware River and Bay Authority which operates the airport, called the extra flights historic. “With Avelo’s fourteen cities now on the schedule, Wilmington Airport offers the most nonstop flight destinations in its history,” he said.

The new destinations will include an extra aircraft — another Boeing 737 — that will call Delaware its home.

“The second based aircraft will bring additional quality jobs for area citizens,” Cook said. “Our focus is to be the airport of choice for people in Delaware, South Jersey, Pennsylvania, and Maryland who seek low fares, quality service, and a convenient airport experience.”

Avelo’s growth comes after a series of let downs from airlines that started flying out of Delaware briefly before canceling service. Last May, Frontier Airlines ended its service to Delaware a little more than a year after relaunching flights.

Before that, First State passengers have been on a seesaw, with the airline starting and stopping flights multiple times over the past decade. Frontier started flying out of Wilmington in 2013, only to cut service to almost all destinations about a year later. By 2015, the low-cost carrier ended flights together.