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What is it like to fly from Lakeland Linder International Airport on Avelo Airlines? Now that Avelo flies between Lakeland and eight other nonstop destinations, LkldNow takes a look at the customer experience for local residents.
Some obvious benefits for flying out of Lakeland over Tampa or Orlando are the much shorter time it takes to drive to the airport and the parking that is free for now.
As a budget carrier, Avelo fares are low, but add-on fees for seat assignment and baggage boost the final cost.
A disadvantage for now is that for now each of the eight destinations – soon to be nine – has just two departures and two arrivals per week.
Comparing flights for a weekend trip to Atlanta (Thursday-Sunday for Avelo from Lakeland and Friday-Sunday for Delta from Tampa), LkldNow found:
- Round-trip fare on Avelo this weekend would be $225, including a medium-priced seat and one carry-on bag, compared with $690 on Delta for a “main” fare, the lowest that includes seat selection.
- The prices were closer for advanced bookings for mid-January: $236 on Avelo compared with $277 on Delta. An extra $54 for economy parking in Tampa brings the cost to $331. (But in this hypothetical matchup, the three nights’ lodging for the Avelo trip vs. the two nights for the Delta trip would make the airfare + lodging total higher.)
Other than Atlanta and Nashville (flights begin in March), most other airports Avelo serves from Lakeland are in medium-sized cities, some of them near major metro areas: Wilmington, Del., near Philadelphia; Manchester, N.H., near Boston; Rochester, N.Y.; New Haven, Conn.; Concord, N.C., near Charlotte; Hartford Conn., and San Juan, Puerto Rico.
When to arrive: The Transportation Security Administration or (TSA) recommends all domestic air travelers arrive at the airport two hours before departure, and Kris Hallstrand, the Lakeland airport’s director, said that is a good guideline to follow.
But Hallstrand estimates most people do not wait more than 20 minutes from the time they enter the check-in line until they get through security. “We’re like Jimmy Johns: wicked fast,” Hallstrand said.
With that in mind, Hallstrand advises travelers to anticipate arriving at the airport at least an hour before their flight.
Typically, there’s only one line passengers use to get through TSA’s airport security checkpoint, but Hallstrand said another screening station was added three weeks ago to speed up the process, if needed.
Avelo gate agents stop accepting checked bags 45 minutes before the flight, and close the check-in counter 30 minutes prior to departure.
On-time performance: Avelo passengers arrived within 15 minutes of scheduled times about 90 percent of the time in October, according to Courtney Goff, a communications manager for Avelo Airlines. She said the industry average is 77 percent of the time, based on tracking by Anuvu, an aviation data services company.
The company claims only one-half of 1% of its flights have been canceled in 2024, compared with rates between 0.9% and 2.12% for the 11 largest airlines.
Avelo’s flights via Boeing Next-Generation 737 aircraft are all spaced out so that only one flight departs at a time. The waiting area after passing through security checkpoints can hold up to 190 people, Hallstrand said.
Hallstrand hopes to expand the terminal to increase space in the secure waiting area. The airport can hold up to four commercial airliners parked at once.
Parking: Parking is free at the Lakeland Linder airport for now.
Hallstrand said she is working with a parking vendor and anticipates the airport will start charging for parking in February or March.
“We’re going to be very reasonable,” Hallstrand explained, stating she hoped parking fees would be about half of what they are to park at the airports in Tampa or Orlando.
Hallstrand said the airport needs to charge for parking in order for the airport to generate revenue to pay for the airport’s maintenance, improvements and future expansion.
“Taxpayer funds are not available to build out the airport. The airport generates its own revenue to fund its projects … We have to maintain the airfield and terminal and be self-sufficient and cover costs … Parking will be a problem in the future and we have to plan for how to expand parking. There’s a cost to building a parking lot,” Hallstrand explained, stating the airport is currently profitable.
The current parking lot can hold 400 vehicles. There were 153 vehicles parked there on Friday morning.
Food: Food is available at the airport only after passing through the security checkpoint. There is a small shop that offers cold sandwiches, snacks, drinks, coffee, candy, etc. The proceeds fund the Aerospace Center for Excellence’s youth programming
Hallstrand hopes to have a restaurant open on the second floor of the airport soon. That would be open to anyone who visits the airport.
“I’m working on a deal with a restaurant and hope to have news in a month or two,” Hallstrand said.
Rental cars: Rental cars are stationed at the airport and available through Budget/Avis weekdays from 8 a.m. to 6 p.m., Saturdays from 9 a.m. to 2 p.m. and on Sunday from 2 p.m. to 8 p.m.
Public transportation: In addition to taxis, Uber and Lyft, Citrus Connection offers bus transportation on its red line to and from its downtown Lakeland terminal to the airport every 25 minutes, from 5:45 a.m. to 5:35 p.m, according to the route posted on its website. The red line route includes a stop at Lakeside Village.
Additional fees
Luggage: Bag prices are the lowest at the time of booking. According to Avelo gate agents, carry-on bags range from $30 to $50 per bag, per flight, and checked bags range from $40 to $50 per bag, per flight, if purchased ahead of time.
If purchased at the last minute, Avelo charges $60 for each bag. If purchased at the airport, the fee rises to $65 for each bag.
Checked bags can’t weigh more than 50 pounds, or they will encounter a $100 fee, according to the website. At the airport, gate agents accept only Visa or Mastercard, they said.
“Carry-on and checked bags have dynamic pricing based on the flight you are going on. It will be a little higher for some routes and lower for others. Baggage pricing does not change based on the time of booking with ticket, but if you add a bag after the initial booking or at the airport, the price will go up,” Goff explained.
People can bring a small backpack on the plane for free as it is considered a personal item. Other personal items that are free include purses, laptop bags. The items must be able to fit under the seat; the acceptable dimensions are 17 inches long by 13 inches wide, by 9 inches deep, according to the Avelo website.
Seats: There is a fee if you want to pre-select your seats. On Nov. 8, the seat fees ranged from $67 for a seat in the first row of the plane to $14 for a seat toward the back of the plane. The fees are charged per person, per flight.
According to Avelo’s website, parents do not have to pay for a seat assignment for children 14 and under. It will automatically seat them with an accompanying adult.
However, for families or groups of four or more, if they want guaranteed seats together, the adults would have to purchase seats close together.
“If you still do not choose to select your seats, after you check-in, we recommend asking the gate agent for options on getting seats closer together. In some instances, we may be able to accommodate. If it’s a fuller flight and people have already selected their seats, we may not be able to put the four (or more) together,” Goff explained.
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