New U.S. budget airline Avelo seeks niche on West Coast
Avelo Airlines, an ultra-low-cost carrier created by a former United Airlines executive, made its debut on Thursday with plans for service between secondary airports on the U.S. West Coast and one-way fares starting at $19.Backed by $125 million in private equity, Avelo
will begin operations from its first base at Hollywood Burbank Airport
just outside Los Angeles, with flights starting April 28.
Although
travel demand has dropped during the pandemic, the downturn has opened
opportunities including gate capacity at Burbank and cheaper aircraft as
large carriers scaled back operations globally, Avelo's founder and
chief executive, Andrew Levy, told Reuters.
"There's
market opportunities that would have been harder for us to tackle a
year ago," said Levy, the co-founder and former president of low-cost
carrier Allegiant Airlines and chief financial officer of United
Airlines.Avelo will begin with 11 non-stop routes from Burbank
and three Boeing 737-800 planes with 189 seats and one-way fares
starting at $19. It expects to have at least six airplanes and around
400 employees by the end of year, Levy said.
U.S. airlines
executives have recently pointed to large pent-up travel demand as the
economy reopens and more Americans receive COVID-19 vaccinations, a
desire Levy hopes to tap into with low fares.
"Demand is coming
back quickly. It's still nowhere near what it used to be so I think in
the short term prices will be really low, but we're built for that," he
said.
Another U.S. start-up, Breeze Airways based in Salt Lake
City and backed by aviation veteran David Neeleman, is preparing to
begin low-cost flights on routes it says have been abandoned by larger
carriers.
(Tracy Rucinski - Reuters)
