Avelo began flying from Tweed, its East Coast base, to what are now six destinations in Florida on November 3, 2021.

Avelo, which announced the service in May 2021, currently operates three 147-seat Boeing Next-Generation 737-700 aircraft at Tweed. The airline will add three more planes in the coming months — as well as new destinations to destinations other than Florida, Levy said.

It would not say which other cities Avelo will fly to from Tweed, which uses the booking symbol “HVN”. But a representative for Rex Development, Barbara Malmberg, told the East Haven Economic Development Commission earlier this week that Avelo will soon announce service to a Midwest destination.

Avelo has hired 109 New Haven-based crew members, including flight attendants, pilots, airport customer service representatives and operations-related roles, as well as managers and supervisors, the company said. airline in a press release. It plans to hire at least 100 additional Tweed-based crew members by the end of 2022.

“I’m very pleased with the initial response to Avelo’s arrival at HVN,” Levy said. “HVN’s unparalleled convenience coupled with Avelo’s exceptional reliability and affordability have made our airline an attractive choice for people across the region.

“We are especially proud of Avelo’s outstanding HVN-based crew members, whose dedication to excellence and caring soul of service fuel Avelo’s success,” Levy said in the statement. “We look forward to continuing to invest in our team, this community and the state as we add more destinations, more aircraft and more crew members in the months ahead.”

To celebrate the 100-day milestone, Avelo is offering a $49 one-way ticket between Tweed and its six Florida destinations: Fort Lauderdale, Fort Myers, Orlando, Sarasota/Bradenton, Tampa and West Palm Beach, Avelo said in the release. The fare is available on AveloAir.com.

“Put simply, the last 100 days have been incredible,” said Tweed New Haven Airport Authority Executive Director Sean Scanlon. “From 100 new jobs created to 70,000 people passing through our airport, we are so proud of what we have been able to accomplish over the past three months.

“Working alongside our partners at Avelo Airlines and Avports, we’ve transformed HVN into the fastest growing airport Connecticut needs and we always knew it could be,” Scanlon said.

“We have known for nearly two decades that the expansion and modernization of Tweed could be accomplished responsibly and with a positive economic impact on New Haven,” Mayor Justin Elicker said. “Over the past 100 days, Avelo Airlines has shown how accurate these projections are,” he said.

“In just over three months, Avelo Airlines has demonstrated the value of Tweed to our economy,” said Michael Piscitelli, the city’s economic development administrator. “With over 100 jobs and an expected economic impact of over $20 million, Avelo is a key part of New Haven’s national position on innovation and inclusive growth.”

While Avelo saw weather-related cancellations and redirected flights in December and January and earlier this month – plus one flight that had to land at Windsor Locks Bradley International Airport due to a possible bird strike – Levy said he was happy with the reliability of Avelo. until now.

“Despite the historic severe winter weather that hit the northeast in January, Avelo achieved an impressive level of reliability in its first three months of operation,” the airline said in the statement. “Excluding cancellations related to weather conditions beyond Avelo’s control, the airline achieved a cancellation rate of less than 1% between November and January.”

Avelo’s on-time arrival rate between November and January was more than 80% after excluding weather-related delays beyond the airline’s control, he said.

Avelo is investing $1.2 million to help upgrade and modernize facilities and operations as part of an overall $100 million project at Tweed. The expansion, funded by airport operator Avports LLC, will include a new terminal on the East Haven side of the airport and an extended runway.

Once the new terminal competes, the runway has been expanded and the additional jobs have been added, the economic impact for the region is expected to be over $275 million, Avelo said.

Avelo, which also offers West Coast service to and from Hollywood Burbank Airport in Los Angeles, currently flies to 18 destinations across the United States. It has pledged to add nine more 737 NGs in 2022. It plans to double its network from 18 to at least 40 destinations by the end of this year, the statement said.

This story will be updated.

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