I understand this route addition won’t be interesting to the average person, though as someone who has lived in Florida for most of my life, I find this to be pretty noteworthy (and as I’ll explain below, there’s a special reason I’m intrigued by this).
In this post:
Avelo Airlines adds New Haven to Lakeland route
US ultra low cost carrier Avelo Airlines is adding a new route between New Haven, Connecticut (HVN) and Lakeland, Florida (LAL). As of June 13, 2024, the airline will be adding a 2x weekly flight between the two airports, operating on Thursdays and Sundays with the following schedule:
XP401 New Haven to Lakeland departing 8:00AM arriving 11:00AM
XP402 Lakeland to New Haven departing 11:40AM arriving 2:25PM
The 1,051-mile flight is blocked at 3hr southbound and 2hr45min northbound, and will be operated by a Boeing 737-700.
For those not familiar, Lakeland is located between Tampa and Orlando (a bit closer to the former than the latter), which are of course two big population centers in Florida. What’s most exciting about this new route is that this is the first commercial service that Lakeland Airport has seen in over a decade.
Not only that, but keep in mind that Avelo is the only airline offering service to New Haven, as the airport only previously had service from small regional airlines, but that’s not even offered anymore. So Avelo deserves huge credit for creating new markets.
Here’s how Avelo Airlines CEO Andrew Levy describes this new route:
“Lakeland – say hello to Avelo! We’re proud to be the only airline serving LAL and are excited to introduce Lakeland to Avelo’s low fares, travel-friendly convenience, and industry-leading reliability. Getting to Southern Connecticut – the gateway to New England and New York – is now easier than ever. This exclusive nonstop service will also make exploring Central Florida – and all Lakeland has to offer – a fast and seamless journey for Connecticut visitors. I am grateful to all the airport and community leaders who made this partnership possible. This is just the start of Avelo’s partnership with LAL and Central Florida.”
Will commercial service to Lakeland succeed?
I grew up in Tampa, and have been obsessed with planes since a young age. As an introvert, I never really enjoyed summer camps, with one exception. One summer, I went to an aviation camp of sorts at Lakeland Airport (Sun ‘n Fun), which I enjoyed greatly. So it’s cool to think that this airport will soon have commercial service.
Now, I’m very curious to see how this route evolves. In this case you’re connecting a small, mostly unknown airport, with another small airport (though thanks to Avelo’s presence in New Haven, the airport is getting more attention).
The argument in favor of flying to Lakeland is that it “offers travelers a refreshingly small, easy, and fast alternative hometown airport experience to the much larger and busier airports in the region,” and that its “location along the I-4 corridor makes it the most travel-friendly gateway to and from Central Florida.”
While I love Avelo experimenting in this market, I can’t help but wonder about how successful this will be:
- Avelo also flies from New Haven to Tampa and Orlando, so this provides service to yet another airport in the region
- Neither Tampa nor Orlando have airports that are at capacity, so the airline could simply add more flights there
- The population in the immediate vicinity of Lakeland isn’t huge, not to mention that for the people in the area looking to travel, odds are that New Haven isn’t the destination they’re seeking
- With just twice weekly flights, there’s not much schedule flexibility; 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
So I’m struggling to figure out the sales pitch here. However, I imagine the airline has two primary motivations here:
- I imagine Avelo is getting some incentives from the airport and local community, so costs will probably be a bit lower than a flight to Tampa or Orlando
- Maybe Avelo is testing out the airport, and is considering creating a hub in Lakeland similar to the one that it has created in New Haven, where it has no competition, and seems to be doing well
But what’s the pitch to the average person looking to travel to or from Tampa or Orlando? Avelo has cheap fares in just about all markets, so how do you entice someone to fly to or from Lakeland, rather than the nearby airports?
It’s one thing if this service were from the regional subsidiary of a legacy airline, where the local demand immediately around the airport could probably sustain the flight with connections around the country and globe. But for a point-to-point route like this, the motive is a bit less clear.
Bottom line
Avelo Airlines will be launching a new route from its New Haven hub, to Lakeland. This will be the first time in over a decade that Lakeland sees commercial flights, so that’s fun. On top of that, it’s cool to consider that New Haven is an airport only served by Avelo. You’ve gotta give Avelo credit for its creativity.
What do you make of Avelo’s plans to fly to Lakeland?
I have been following news about Lakeland Airport for a year or so. When new Canadian airlines started up I hoped one would pick Lakeland - to open a new market and to have something different that the big carriers. But smaller airports like Lakeland take effort to settle into so airlines choose Orlando or Tampa.
Avelo has invested in the airport and hopefully will be willing to stick around if things start slower than...
I have been following news about Lakeland Airport for a year or so. When new Canadian airlines started up I hoped one would pick Lakeland - to open a new market and to have something different that the big carriers. But smaller airports like Lakeland take effort to settle into so airlines choose Orlando or Tampa.
Avelo has invested in the airport and hopefully will be willing to stick around if things start slower than expected.
One of the things that might help the average passenger is a bus service like SWf offers to NYC, The bus(es) could transfer passengers to Tamp and Orlando.
Finally, Lakeland is an international user fee airport. Hopefully it is as easy for a Canadian carrier to fly there as Orlando.
This is going to be interesting to watch. TPA is already right in the middle of the Tampa metro area so its not like a New York situation with EWR and JFK/LGA.
I use to work for them. Their planning strategy revolves around making educated guesses and lesser risks, then "throw and see what sticks"
They have also been very aggressive with carry on bag fees at the gate. Their personal item dimensions is also the smallest I've ever seen on any N American airline, making it easier to secure bag fees revenue.
Can you get a rental car from Lakeland? What happens if you flight gets canceled, are you stuck for days in Lakeland. Thanks, but there is a bennifit to an airport and that operates regular service.
As has been mentioned , you're less than an hour from TPA which also has service to New Haven. So you wouldn't be "stuck for days" in Lakeland unless you wanted to be
Too bad they couldn't get this in place in time for Sun n Fun '24...
MCO is overcrowded, hardly any parking, used to be good airport but not now with Terminal C which lacks travellators . Far too much attention on Brightline which is a 19th century form of transport.
This service will last three months...maybe.
Can't see how this makes sense given the airline's footprint. Flying to PBI would make more sense. (Keeps the airline's smaller airport philosophy, but FLL/MIA make sense as well.) PBI is an easy gateway to SoFla and an area not really serviced by Avelo.
Intriguing! Happy for LAL, but agreed that the market demand is questionable for an O/D service between LAL and HVN. I would have thought PVD more attractive, but that would open up a fight with WN...so I guess HVN is smarter. The southern CT market is large, so is SE MA and PVD in general.
We often also think only of corporate (that's not going to happen in this O/D market) or general leisure travel....
Intriguing! Happy for LAL, but agreed that the market demand is questionable for an O/D service between LAL and HVN. I would have thought PVD more attractive, but that would open up a fight with WN...so I guess HVN is smarter. The southern CT market is large, so is SE MA and PVD in general.
We often also think only of corporate (that's not going to happen in this O/D market) or general leisure travel. But there are sub-segments of leisure that are likely to be considered such a package tour operators from NE to Disney (lesser extent TPA), group series for a similar type of traveler (there's a very significant one HQ'd in PVD), or even niche travel sellers like AARP, AAA or Costco. However, what I don't know is if Avelo even targets agency channels, or just direct online sales.
Anyone know about their operational reliability stats? For a twice a week flight, that would be a consideration for me.
Lakeland is also home to Legoland, so this route is also targeting people from Connecticut for a quick trip to the theme park. Given the wealth in CT, I'm sure many will be tempted by this opportunity.
When I was working with them, their HVN-MCO flights were consistently among the busiest, sometimes with 3x daily, mostly with families going for leisure.
I live in St. Petersburg, quite a distance from Lakeland. Tampa International is certainly my airport of choice. However as a long time Tampa Bay Area resident it is exciting to see service to Lakeland. The Polk County area is one of the fastest growing areas in Florida. Having said that, I wish that there were more destinations served from LAL. The traffic in the region is horrendous and I am sure the folks in...
I live in St. Petersburg, quite a distance from Lakeland. Tampa International is certainly my airport of choice. However as a long time Tampa Bay Area resident it is exciting to see service to Lakeland. The Polk County area is one of the fastest growing areas in Florida. Having said that, I wish that there were more destinations served from LAL. The traffic in the region is horrendous and I am sure the folks in Polk County / Lakeland would support additional service. New Haven ? not so sure about that. Hello... Southwest ?
Navigating I-4 from Lakeland to either TPA or MCO has become a white-knuckle ride. For the retirees and semi-retirees that flock to Polk County from the Northeast, a flight like this would be a welcome option.
Wilmington/Philadelphia and Raleigh/Durham would have made more sense. We will see if New Haven's great pizza will get the Lakeland crowd up to Southern Connecticut.
While people are busy discussing how this service would impact airports like MCO and TPA, I think the bigger question is how this could impact service at SFB. If Lucky's second point about how Avelo could turn this into a mini-hub is taken seriously, it could be pretty lucrative for Avelo as the location is far better for pleasure travel vs Alligent at SFB.
This could also be very interesting as service ramps up...
While people are busy discussing how this service would impact airports like MCO and TPA, I think the bigger question is how this could impact service at SFB. If Lucky's second point about how Avelo could turn this into a mini-hub is taken seriously, it could be pretty lucrative for Avelo as the location is far better for pleasure travel vs Alligent at SFB.
This could also be very interesting as service ramps up and Brightline continues planning their Orlando-Tampa routing.
I've seen talk of Brightline potentially having a Lakeland station at the airport... as the parking makes sense, there are two airports on site, etc., seems like a good spot that wouldn't need a ton of non-train-related infrastructure development.
While there is talk of Brightline putting a station in Lakeland on the way from Orlando to Tampa, their route will be in the median of I-4. Highly unlikely they would deviate to put the station at LAL.
I'm taking the inaugural as it's 35 minutes from me in Tampa and I find the novelty intriguing. Join me, Lucky :)
Huge 55+ communities near LAL. Places like Poinciana have experienced rapid growth. The traffic issues in getting from their to MCO might make LAL an attractive option. Would be interesting to know how many people in the New Haven area have snowbird homes in somewhere like Solivita.
I booked on the first flight. Glad to support new service.
Avelo has signed a longer term/larger lease with LAL. I have it on good authority that there are more routes coming but TSA has to get resources together and the airport is also having improvements made to the hold room, check point, adding seating, etc. There are rental cars on site.. namely Avis.. and it looks like, just like most of the rest...
I booked on the first flight. Glad to support new service.
Avelo has signed a longer term/larger lease with LAL. I have it on good authority that there are more routes coming but TSA has to get resources together and the airport is also having improvements made to the hold room, check point, adding seating, etc. There are rental cars on site.. namely Avis.. and it looks like, just like most of the rest of Florida, there are no one-way fees to drop at MCO or TPA. (In fact that's how I plan to get to LAL) They pool vehicles within the central Florida area.
If I remember correctly, I'm pretty sure that there aren't any rental car fees for dropping off at an airport different than your pick up airport in the entire State of Florida. I live in FL, but because of that I rarely rent cars here so I'm 80% sure this is still the case.
I believe this is done to encourage tourism to other parts of the state.
LAL is probably only 20 minutes further from Disney than MCO. If you're renting a car, you could probably fly through the airport and be at Disney quicker than MCO.
Don't underestimate Andrew Levy, from his time at United as CFO I can tell you he is one smart and successful businessman. He has very unorthodox methods but most of the time he is right.
Great article and good luck Lakeland. One correction on New Haven (HVN). HVN always had commercial service though very little in recent years. American Airlines flew less than 3 or 4 daily flights to either Philadelphia, or weekly Charlotte and stopped right before Avelo showed up. So you are right there was 1 month with no service between AA and Avelo and your point is well taken.
Nice to see an airport (re)gain commercial service, but not sure what LAL has to offer that MCO and TPA doesn't. Publix HQ is just a short drive away, but clearly that hasn't been enough to induce a flight before now (in that case I would think ATL on DL Connection would be the route); no doubt Publix has a fleet of private jets to meet their needs like Walmart does out in XNA. I...
Nice to see an airport (re)gain commercial service, but not sure what LAL has to offer that MCO and TPA doesn't. Publix HQ is just a short drive away, but clearly that hasn't been enough to induce a flight before now (in that case I would think ATL on DL Connection would be the route); no doubt Publix has a fleet of private jets to meet their needs like Walmart does out in XNA. I doubt lots of people by HVN are itching for a flight to Legoland and I can't imagine many Lakeland residents want to visit New York enough that they would accept going via New Haven. Here's hoping just in case!
"not sure what LAL has to offer that MCO and TPA doesn't"
The answer to all your questions is money.
Perhaps they're counting on passenger traffic from Publix HQ?
Nah, and airlines (certainly not like Avelo) don't make market decisions on things like that. And Publix doesn't go any further north than about Richmond, VA. Airlines look at tourism data (you know all those surveys that airports or tourism groups take wanting to know your zip code? you can buy/access that data) as well as trends for relocation. They look at zip codes where people move from/to, as usually a good indicator of demand.
Unless the other Carriers initiate service (doubtful) how do expect this to even stand a chance? How does the AIrport itself even operate with twice weekly service when there is no other carrier to keep the facility open? Unless one of the majors (AA/DL/UA or even SWA) begin service very few people will even know service exists. What is the attraction of Lakeland anyways that cannot be served via Orlando, Tampa or Samford?