Avelo Airlines made headlines when the 16-jet carrier signed an unusually long 15-year lease at Lakeland, FL, with a possible May announcement of destinations from the airport between Orlando and Tampa.
It turns out the TSA has not yet finalized security at an airport that has not seen service in years.
“Right now, we’re still waiting on TSA and their approval processes. It is a heavy lift getting an airport federalized,” said Adam Lunn, assistant airport director. “I think the process has been a little bit longer than we anticipated initially but I think that we’re finally to a spot where we just have a few more things to button up.”
Lunn said airport staff is completing its airport security plan, which is a thorough and largely confidential document outlining the airport’s safety protocol.
“We’re having daily calls right now with the airline and they are very eager to announce service. Unfortunately, they had an issue at another airport in the country where that approval was delayed, they started selling tickets and then they had to bus people to other airports so they’re trying to avoid that,” said Lunn.
Avelo did not have the same problem at Wilmington Airport last year, since the TSA already had facilities at the airport dating from the two times Frontier served ILG – most recently in 2022.
Wilmington has been mentioned as a possible destination from Lakeland, which is fairly convenient to Disney’s Orlando parks.
At the same time, Orlando is Avelo’s most popular destination from Wilmington and Tampa has remained on Avelo’s schedule.
Avelo continues its expansion at its New Haven, CT hub, with nonstop flights to Houston, St. Louis, and Traverse City, MI. The service is twice weekly, with the Michigan City getting a weekly flight.
Avelo also announced it will base a sixth aircraft at New Haven. That compares to one in Wilmington after keeping two here last year.
Avelo CEO Andrew Levy earlier confirmed that the carrier will not resume seasonal service from ILG to Nashville, Raleigh-Durham, Greenville, SC, and Savannah as it works to build up its Delaware routes to the Carolinas, Florida, and San Juan, Puerto Rico.
The cuts led to fears that Avelo would be added to the list of carriers leaving the airport. However, officials say Avelo has seen success in Delaware and does not rule out expansion.