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Avelo Airlines flights to and from the Manchester, New Hampshire, airport, near Boston, are being canceled after April, Lakeland Airport Director Kris Hallstrand confirmed Thursday, saying not enough passengers were utilizing the twice-a-week service.
“They have to be able to generate revenue to operate as a business,” said Hallstrand.
“This is a healthy iteration of honing in on what works and what doesn’t work. We need to look at it from a perspective of, do we want an airline to keep a failing route and go out of business, or do we want them to find successful routes and continue service for years and years to come?”
Hallstrand said 83% of each flight’s 189 passenger seats have to be utilized to cross that profitability threshold, to pay for fuel, crews and maintenance.
She added that Florida is not necessarily a destination for New England travelers in the heat of Florida’s summers.
Avelo’s flight booking website shows no more flights to Manchester, New Hampshire, after April 28.
But Avelo could be adding other routes. On Monday, airport officials posted a poll on their Facebook page, asking readers to pick one of four routes.
Hallstrand provided the poll results, with Chicago the clear winner:
- Chicago, 32%
- Washington, DC, 27%
- Detroit, 23%
- Houston, 18%
Nearly 1,500 people commented, with some naming other cities they wanted to see on the list.
Fourteen people apiece mentioned Atlanta — a route Avelo recently canceled due to lack of use –– and Grand Rapids, Michigan. About nine people asked for New Orleans, Dallas and Flint, Michigan.
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Check the Avelo site again, there are no flights in May, then they pick up again in June until early September. Is this Avelo not paying attention to their own website?
As I warned multiple times, Avelo cannot be trusted. They are notorious for not doing their homework, initiating routes and then pulling them with little notice. Their excuse for pulling Manchester is garbage. Their logic fails the smell test. Manchester was never going to be profitable market regardless unless they used some form of marketing. Using the Florida heat is a bogus excuse. Disney World does not close down in the summer and Lakeland airport is a better choice than Orlando. Faster and more convenient!!! The airport authority has failed in this also.
I agree, this is a bad look for Avelo. However, if people are flying down for Disney, they are generally better off going to Orlando International. Plenty of shuttles from there to hotels and then to Disney without having to rent a car or pay for an Uber and fighting I-4 traffic. Plus, if it’s families and they have multiple bags then the prices on Southwest or other airlines with direct flights may be more cost effective.
The sad thing about this decision is that my wife who has a daughter that lives in New Hampshire traveled there using this airline and is the only destination she uses.
She had a RT flight booked in May that she received notice that was cancelled without reason. Although they returned the cost of this flight to her account. She still has a remaining credit with Avelo that they have made no attempt in how they plan to refund this money if they are not going to offer a flight that can be used.
I understand business but making business decisions should not be at the expense of the consumer if you want to stay in business.
Same thing they did with Atlanta. Too bad they didn’t learn to walk before the started running. Smaller planes and larger fares would make more sense.
I booked a round trip flight on Avelo Lakeland Florida to Manchester NH. 10 days later we get notice the flights have been canceled. Total unreliability is not the way for a new business to be successful. One week later still cannot get my refund. I’d hope to help this airline and new restaurant get going at Lakeland. Back to Orlando and Tampa. Avelo never again.
Colin Brown
I still wonder if this airport will ever earn penny #1. Don’t get me wrong … I really enjoy having an aging Amazon 767 straining to gain altitude directly over my home at 130 am in the morning. And don’t chide me for buying the airport. We were here first.
You can thank your Lakeland City Commissioners. They didn’t do their homework about Avelo. They wanted an airline at any cost. The city has given Avelo a lot of concessions. If Avelo flies to a city that is convenient to you then great. What about those people that live in Lakeland that have no reason or want to fly to the cities Avelo serves. What is the advantage and what do the taxpayers get out of this??? Nothing Zero. The Lakeland City Commissioners can get to brag about something they approved that they knew nothing about but listened to people who thought they knew.
I understand the flights in the summer from New Hampshire, but what about all the snowbirds starting in October going thru December!