US ultra low cost carrier Avelo Airlines has just revealed its latest expansion, including creating a new base in Florida, which I’m particularly fascinated by.
Continue reading: Cool: Avelo Airlines Adds Lakeland Base, With Eight Routes
Share your questions, experiences, and thoughts below.
Love seeing my old certificate succeed, even if they are a competitor to my current employer
MCO may not be at capacity, but at times it can be very congested and the lines at TSA can be long. Not as horrible as DEN or ATL (which doesn't get nearly enough press for sucking), but still bad. Meanwhile, you have Lakeland which is in a rapidly growing area and which is not far from not only the eastern and northern parts of the Tampa Bay region but Disney World, Kissimmee, etc. It's a far better location than, for example, Sanford. For a small carrier like Avelo, this is a brilliant niche to have.
Honestly, once you throw in the tram ride and the rental car line, it's probably quicker to get from LAL to Disney World than MCO. You will make up the additional 20 minutes drive just getting through the airport. I never got SFB or MLB as alternatives eve though their operators try to sell them that way.
@Ben -
"furthermore, since many people will need to rent a car from Lakeland, it won’t be practical for most to do a one-way rental and return it at another airport, as that’s often more expensive, negating any savings"
I'm pretty sure that a lot of rental car companies (or maybe all) don't charge extra or significantly more if you want to return your car at another location within the State of Florida. I believe this rule was implemented by the state government to help with transportation given how many tourists Florida sees and the lack of public transportation. They didn't want that to hinder tourism, which is why this existed. I know this was a thing in the last decade, but I haven't rented a car in FL for the past 5 years (since I live here), so it is possible this has changed. If anyone has any updated info on this, I'd appreciate your response.
It’s still a thing. I have rented car many times in TPA returning them in MCO and vice versa (at least with the major rental companies).
Yes. In fact last month I rented a car one way MCO to Lakeland and had zero extra charges. The agency at Lakeland is Avis. There aren't one-way charges. I even spoke to the site manager who said they pool vehicles with MCO and TPA anyway.
That corridor of FL is growing like mad. This might be a really smart move versus trying to steal passengers away from Airline "X" at some already grossly overserved and massively crowded airport.
I think a big part of the route annoucement is Avelo's decision to open a base in Hartford, where Breeze has opened a base as well.
Avelo and Breeze will not have any direct competition on any routes from Hartford, but it is an interesting choice for Avelo as some of the routes would be logical choices for Breeze expansion out of the airport.
I welcome the Avelo route from Hartford to Cancun and Montego Bay. Somehow Hartford has Aer Lingus service to Dublin yet no carrier currently flies to non-U.S. sun destinations.
The problem is that there has to be enough demand between the two points. If you are serving underserved airports people will not be going for connections.
@Ben, your list is wrong. As the map correctly shows, ILG is Wilmington, Delaware, not North Carolina.
This would be perfect for a upcoming family trip that includes the legoland/peppa pig park in winter haven before hitting Disney parks, can rent car start with Lego then return car at mco end of trip!