Avelo flies millionth passenger, gives away 160 tickets

Fast-growing, low-fare Avelo Airlines flew its millionth passenger Thursday — with Chairman and CEO Andrew Levy on board the flight from Los Angeles' Hollywood Burbank Airport to Boise, Idaho, to surprise all 160 passengers on board with a free future round-trip ticket anywhere Avelo flies.

The milestone came 16 months after Avelo began flying as America's first new airline in more than a decade. It came nine months after it began serving

Tweed New Haven Regional Airport as its first East Coast base, with flights to Florida and later the

Carolinas, Nashville, Washington, D.C., and Chicago's Midway International Airport.

At the Burbank departure gate, surrounded by Avelo customers and crewmembers, Levy said, “From the start, Avelo has been on a mission to inspire travel by making flying affordable and easy so you can travel more. Since our first flight 16 months ago, one million Avelo customers have enjoyed the everyday low fares and convenience of flying with us.

“On this momentous occasion, all of us at Avelo are grateful to you and every Avelo customer who has chosen Avelo,” he said, according to a release. “I'm also very appreciative of our Avelo crewmembers who deliver the smooth, reliable and caring travel experience that keeps our customers coming back. Thanks a million!”

Avelo will also award one traveler a year of free tickets to any Avelo destination via an Avelo One Million Sweepstakes. For information, go to AveloAir.com/OneMillion or Avelo's Instagram page (@AveloAir) through Sept. 12. The winner will receive 12 pairs of round-trip Avelo tickets that are valid for one year.

Avelo offers no-frills unbundled low fares but charges extra to either check bags or stow full-size bags in the overhead bins, reserve seats, priority boarding, bring a pet in the cabin or sit in exit rows or the front of the cabin.

Its destinations from Tweed include Orlando, Tampa, Fort Lauderdale, Fort Myers, West Palm Beach and Sarasota/Bradenton in Florida, Chicago's Midway

International Airport, Baltimore/Washington International Thurgood Marshall Airport, Raleigh/Durham, Nashville, Tenn; Charleston, SC; Myrtle Beach, SC, Savannah, Ga., and Wilmington, N.C., its newest destination from Tweed, which began service June 30.

Earlier this summer, Avelo announced that Orlando will be its second East Coast base. It has spent much of the summer expanding routes from there.

Arnold Gold/Hearst Connecticut Media Andrew Levy, chairman and CEO of Avelo Airlines, speaks at a press conference announcing major expansion plans in 2021.