Jul. 24—HARTFORD — Three years after Avelo Airlines returned commercial flights to Tweed New Haven Regional Airport, it also will begin flights from Bradley International Airport.
The new venture includes two international destinations Avelo could never fly to from New Haven: Cancun, Mexico and Montego Bay, Jamaica, Chairman and CEO Andrew Levy announced Wednesday at the state Capitol, joined by Gov. Ned Lamont, Hartford Mayor Arunan Arulampalam and a host of key officials.
Avelo's first two international destinations will be joined at Bradley by five domestic routes to destinations Avelo already flies to from Tweed as part of the growing startup airline's largest expansion ever.
"We're excited to extend our brand to another part of the state," Levy said.
He thanked Lamont, whom he said "created an environment that allows a company like ours to invest in the state." He also thanked the Connecticut Airport Authority and its executive director, Kevin Dillon, with whom he said Avelo had been discussing the possibility of adding service to Bradley for the past year and a half.
"I'm going to Montego Bay," joked Lamont. "Let's go."
Lamont said airports serve as gateways to the rest of the country and world with Bradley going from about 30 destinations to 60 or so in the past four years.
"This is two-way traffic," he said, adding it's people flying to Connecticut in addition to those who fly from Connecticut to the destinations its airports are associated with.
Avelo will begin flying to Montego Bay on Nov. 16 and Cancun on Nov. 20, Levy said in an interview this week in the Tweed New Haven Airport Authority Board Room at Tweed.
As part of the expansion, Avelo will broaden what has been its New Haven base to be a Connecticut regional base that includes both Tweed and Bradley, Avelo said in a release.
It will begin service in early November from Bradley, located north of Hartford in Windsor Locks, to Houston's William P. Hobby Airport; Charlotte / Concord and Wilmington, N.C.; and Orlando / Lakeland and Daytona Beach, Fla., Levy said in an interview.
"We think that these are markets that will do really well," Levy said.
The new routes will begin phasing in on Nov. 7, Levy said.
Speaker of the House Matt Ritter, D- Hartford, said he was pleased to see the service to Houston — tickets to which were in short supply when University of Connecticut men's basketball team won the NCAA championship there — as well as the resumption of service to Jamaica.
"We had it, lost it and now we have it back thanks to Avelo," Ritter said.
Avelo will be the first airline to fly from Bradley to Montego Bay since Spirit Airlines' short-lived service in 2022 and 2023.
He praised Avelo, adding company representatives came to his office a year and a half ago requesting the state lower the fuel tax so Avelo would do international flights. The state did that, eliminating the tax entirely for the next two years and Avelo "did exactly what they said they were going to," Ritter said.
Mayor Arulampalam called it "an important day for Hartford," which has a well-established Jamaican and West Indian community.
"We are brothers and sisters because we have families on both sides of this divide," Arulampalam said. "It's human connection (that's important) and that's what they're giving us."
Andrew Lawrence, president of the Caribbean Trade Council, agreed, saying, the new nonstop service make it easier and more convenient to travel to Jamaica and the West Indies.
With the addition of the seven new routes at Bradley, Avelo will serve a total of 28 nonstop destinations from Connecticut, including the 26 routes it flies from Tweed.
Levy said the expansion to Bradley "is a testament to the welcoming reception Avelo has received" in Connecticut. He said the company is in a positive position to grow even more across the state, given its three consecutive profitable quarters.
"The expansion of air service means more than just convenient travel for personal leisure," said Lamont in a release. "Any time an airline adds more destinations from Connecticut, it delivers more opportunities for businesses to connect with locations where they conduct business, which translates into more opportunities for overall economic growth and job creation here in our state. I'm glad to welcome Avelo to Connecticut's largest airport and I'm glad to see the airline's continued growth here."
The Montego Bay service is supported by a $2 million, two-year state revenue guarantee, according to Dillon and Jim Watson, of the state Department of Economic and Community Development.
"We're certainly pleased that Avelo has chosen to enter the Bradley market," said Dillon in an interview prior to the announcement. "We think it's a market that has a lot to offer to all of our partners here, including Avelo."
Avelo, which is the only airline serving Tweed, will be Bradley's 12th airline, Dillon said.
Bradley contributes an estimated $3.6 billion each year to the Connecticut economy, said CAA Board Chairman Tony Sheridan.
"Avelo's presence at Bradley International Airport ties into our commitment to providing travelers with convenience and a growing list of domestic and international nonstop destinations," Dillon said.
Bradley does not currently have flights to Cancun, although it has had seasonal service in the past from JetBlue, Frontier Airlines and Delta Air Lines, Dillon said.
Levy made a point of saying that the new Bradley service "is not instead of" Tweed. He said he sees it as an opportunity to reach out further to people who might not fly from Tweed — as well as to do some things that Avelo could not do from Tweed.
That's because Tweed does not have U.S. customs or immigration facilities, Levy said.
Bradley does.
The only international destinations Avelo could fly to from Tweed are places like Nassau in the Bahamas, Bermuda and Canadian airports in Toronto, Montreal and Vancouver that "pre-clear" travelers returning to the United States, he said.
Tom Rafter, executive director of the Tweed New Haven Airport Authority, said he doesn't anticipate Avelo adding service to and from Bradley to have any negative effect on Tweed.
"Overall, I think it adds to their success," Rafter said. "I think a rising tide floats all boats ... I think our demand is very strong and they saw that."
At this point, the Avelo brand "is really well known in the state," but "we hope to extend our brand" further, including into areas north of Hartford and in western Massachusetts, said Levy.
"The other real benefit to Bradley is it will help us support our ops at Tweed," Levy said.
Having a presence at Bradley, including having Avelo's own employees based there, will allow Avelo to better handle diversions when flights are unable to land at Tweed, which is located close to Long Island Sound and sometimes gets fogged in, Levy said.
Bradley also has a longer runway, he said.
"There are a few select markets that we could consider" that might not be possible from Tweed, Levy said.
New Haven is Avelo's largest base — employing more than 250 people supporting aircraft that fly to 26 nonstop destinations, Avelo said in the release. Since starting November 2021, Avelo has flown more than 2 million travelers at Tweed.
By year's end, 10 of Avelo's 19 airplanes will be dedicated to serving Connecticut, Levy said. That includes six Boeing Next-Generation 737 airplanes based at Tweed, two that will be based at Bradley and one each in Raleigh, N.C. and Orlando, Fla. that are dedicated to Connecticut operations, he said.
The Bradley expansion comes after several new routes at Tweed.
Avelo earlier this month began flying nonstop flights from Tweed to Dulles International Airport in northern Virginia, outside Washington, D.C.
In June, it began flying previously-announced flights to Houston, St. Louis and Traverse City, Mich.
It also announced flights to Destin, Fla. and Lakeland, Fla. this year and began flying between Tweed and Knoxville, Tenn. in early May.
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