Avelo Airlines to increase service to Daytona Beach. Here's when it will start.

Clayton Park, Daytona Beach News-Journal
·3 min read

DAYTONA BEACH ― Avelo Airlines will increase service on its nonstop Daytona Beach-to-New Haven, Connecticut, route to three days a week, up from the two it has been offering here since kicking it off in June 2023.

Starting June 10, the ultra low-cost airline will offer incoming and department flights on its Daytona Beach-New Haven route on Mondays, Wednesdays and Fridays.

For the past 10 months it has been offering flights on that route only on Mondays and Fridays.

Avelo announced its decision to increase service to Daytona Beach on its Facebook page Thursday.

Air travelers line up to catch a departing nonstop flight on Avelo Airlines from Daytona Beach International Airport to New Haven, Connecticut, on Sept. 14, 2023.
Air travelers line up to catch a departing nonstop flight on Avelo Airlines from Daytona Beach International Airport to New Haven, Connecticut, on Sept. 14, 2023.

"We were thrilled to learn Avelo was adding a 3rd (weekly) flight this summer to/from New Haven, CT, which just shows the strong demand for air service from that area," wrote Daytona Beach International Airport spokeswoman Joanne Magley in an email to The Daytona Beach News-Journal.

How has Avelo's DAB-New Haven service been performing so far?

According to passenger traffic numbers compiled by Daytona Beach International Airport, Avelo, which launched its twice-weekly Daytona Beach-New Haven service on June 22, 2023, wound up serving 32,022 air travelers on those flights last year over a period of just a little over six months.

It managed to fill an average of 81% of the available seats on the 147-seat Boeing 737-700s it used on that route in 2023.

In January of this year, the only month that passenger traffic numbers have been reported so far for 2024, Avelo's Daytona Beach-New Haven route served 3,155 air travelers who filled 74% of the available seats.

"That is on par with the average load factor for the entire network that Avelo serves out of New Haven," said Magley.

For the entire year on all flights including those offered by American Airlines and Delta Air Lines, Daytona Beach airport served a total of 719,775 incoming and outgoing airline passengers last year, up from 586,118 in 2022. Those flights filled 85% of the total available seats, down slightly from 88% in 2022.

Air travelers arrive at Daytona Beach International Airport after taking a nonstop Avelo Airlines flight from New Haven, Connecticut, on Sept. 17, 2023.
Air travelers arrive at Daytona Beach International Airport after taking a nonstop Avelo Airlines flight from New Haven, Connecticut, on Sept. 17, 2023.

American Airlines still offering seasonal service to D.C.

American Airlines, which offers four flights a day from Daytona Beach to Atlanta, Georgia, recently began offering twice a week nonstop flights to Washington, D.C., on a seasonal basis that began in February during the week of the Daytona 500. That seasonal route, with flights offered on both Saturdays and Sundays, runs to May 5, said Magley.

Delta Air Lines, the other passenger carrier that regularly serves this market, currently offers four incoming and four outgoing flights a day on its Daytona Beach-Atlanta, Georgia route. The airline will increase its service here to five daily flights starting in May.

Could the airport add more flights in the future?

Airport officials sure hope so.

Joanne Magley, director of marketing and customer experience for Daytona Beach International Airport, stands next to Volusia County Council member Matt Reinhart the inside of an Avelo Airlines 737-700 jetliner that the ultra low-cost carrier used for its inaugural nonstop flight to Daytona Beach from New Haven, Connecticut, Thursday, June 22, 2023.
Joanne Magley, director of marketing and customer experience for Daytona Beach International Airport, stands next to Volusia County Council member Matt Reinhart the inside of an Avelo Airlines 737-700 jetliner that the ultra low-cost carrier used for its inaugural nonstop flight to Daytona Beach from New Haven, Connecticut, Thursday, June 22, 2023.

"Our air service development team is in continuous talks with our current and prospective airlines about new destinations, and we have several meetings with route planners scheduled," said Magley. "We believe our airport and destination are high on the lists of several prospective airlines."

This article originally appeared on The Daytona Beach News-Journal: Avelo Airlines to increase service to Daytona. Here's the reason.