Avelo Airlines to begin flights to the Dominican Republic

Houston based ultra-low cost airline, Avelo, has announced that it will be expanding the number of destinations available for passengers flying from Bradley International Airport and Tweed-New Haven Airport, both in Connecticut.

Whilst three of the four new destinations are internal to the United States – Jacksonville in Florida, Dallas-Forth Worth in Texas, and Portland, Main – the fourth will be Punta Cana, in the Dominican Republic.

Joining Cancun in Mexico, and Montego Bay in Jamaica, adding another international destination adds to a growing portfolio of locations for a carrier that only came into operation (at least in its current form) three years ago, in April 2021.

Avelo’s founder and CEO Andrew Levy, said in a statement:

“We love Connecticut and are excited to continue expanding our presence here with these five new exclusive destinations. With 39 route choices, Avelo offers Connecticut travelers more choice, affordability and convenience than any other airline operating in the state. And when you couple that with our industry-leading reliability, it doesn’t surprise us that nearly 3 million Customers have entrusted Avelo with their air travel since we took flight here three years ago. Avelo’s purpose is to Inspire Travel, and we are very optimistic about the opportunities ahead of us to make air travel easier, more affordable and more dependable for people across Connecticut.”

Flights to all the new destinations begin between February and May 2025, with Jacksonville commencing on 14 February, Dallas-Fort Worth flights begin on 7 March, Detroit from the 4 April, and Portland on 22 May. Meanwhile, the first international flight to the Dominican Republic will take place on 21 February. All flights can be booked now, from here, with prices starting from a stated $39 one way.

Who are Avelo Airlines

As stated in the first section of the article, Avelo officially started in April 2021, however its history starts some 34 years earlier, as Casino Express Airlines.

Initially as a purely regional airline, Casino Express flew from a number of American cities to the Red Lion Hotel and Casino, in Elko, Nevada.

By the turn of the new millennium, Casino Express ad broadened its customer base to include sports teams, government dignitaries, and press corps, as well as flying to other casinos around the USA. As such, the airline was rebranded as Xtra Airlines in 2005.

In 2018, had expanded its fleet to include six aircraft, Andrew Levy, a former chief financial officer at United Continental Holdings (who own and operate United Airlines) and later chief operations officer of Allegiant Air (a Los Vegas-based airline with a similar business model as Casino Express) acquired Xtra Airlines in 2018.

Finally, in 2021 Xtra Airlines was renamed Avelo Airlines.

Will you be using Avelo Airlines when you travel through Connecticut? Or do you already? How do you feel about Avelo expanding their destination lists? Let us know in the comments below.