Avelo Airlines will operate flights with three 184-seat Boeing Next-Generation 737 planes based at McKinney National Airport. (Courtesy Avelo Airlines)
Commercial service at McKinney National Airport will launch Nov. 11 with a flight to Fort Myers, Florida.
It’s one of five destinations that Avelo Airlines will fly to this fall. In December, the airline will add six more flights to destinations in Colorado, Florida, Georgia, Tennessee and Louisiana. It will be the third airport in Dallas-Fort Worth to offer commercial flights, joining Dallas Love Field and Dallas Fort Worth International.
Avelo Airlines Founder and CEO Andrew Levy said they were “extremely bullish” on the opportunity to add more destinations.
“The growth in this area is just really exciting to be a part of,” Levy said. “We’re really thrilled with the announcement.”
Latest update
The new routes were announced in September at the same time the Federal Aviation Administration issued an airport operating certificate required for commercial service. Ignacio Flores, director of the Federal Aviation Administration’s Southwest Region Airports division, said the certificate serves as the FAA’s seal of approval confirming the airport meets safety standards.
Flores said it’s a “rare milestone” that airports convert from a general aviation airport into a fully certified commercial service airport.
“Just to put it in perspective, in the state of Texas, the last time we issued an airport operating certificate was more than 20 years ago,” he said. “Today marks a historic turning point for the McKinney airport, the city of McKinney and the entire Dallas-Fort Worth metropolitan area.”
McKinney National Airport Director Ken Carley said it certifies that the airport complies with all FAA regulations in providing scheduled passenger service. Airport staff have been pursuing the certification for months, he said.
With Avelo launching commercial service, the airline applied for a new location code from the International Air Transport Association, a trade association that represents over 370 airlines across the world. IATA is identifying the airport as DTX for commercial service. The airport will still have TKI as its location identifier from the FAA for general operations.
City leaders broke ground on the 46,000-square-foot commercial terminal in 2025, years after voters denied a $200 million bond measure to fund it. The $79 million project is instead funded by a mix of local city funds and grants. While the airport will see more daily operations, a 2025 environmental assessment for the terminal project determined that noise levels requiring mitigation are expected to be contained within the airport property.
The terminal is located at 1910 FM 546, according to McKinney National Airport's website.
Passengers will have access to rental car services via Enterprise Rent-A-Car at the terminal, as well as a concession stand operated by Creative Hospitality Solutions. In the weeks leading up to Nov. 11, both vendors will finish out their areas before the terminal opens, Carley said.
The Transportation Security Administration is also finishing its designated area and installing equipment for security screening, he said.
“We’re days away from a temporary certificate of occupancy, and that’s significant because then it lets all these other groups in here to start building out their space,” Carley said.
The terminal will have three entrances located along the south side that border the 980-space parking lot. The parking lot will also have the ability to expand to 1,450 spaces in the future. The airport will charge $15 a day for parking, Carley said.
Assistant City Manager Barry Shelton said furniture and ticketing counters have been installed already. In the coming weeks, airport officials will ensure data and IT-related systems are in place and ready for Nov. 11, he said.
McKinney National Airport's commercial terminal includes a concessions stand, seating area, restrooms and rental car counters.(city of McKinney/Community Impact)
The outlook
When determining destinations from McKinney National Airport, Avelo Airlines officials look at several sources of data, including historical demand that exists in the Dallas-Fort Worth area, Levy said. The airline also considers where people have moved to North Texas from.
“We carry a lot of people,” Levy said. “We carry people that go on vacation to places like Las Vegas, but we carry even more people that are going to visit their friends and relatives.”
Avelo Airlines' planned outbound flights include:
Monday and Friday: 6 flights
DTX to ATL (Atlanta, GA)
DTX to DEN (Denver, CO)
DTX to FLL (Fort Lauderdale, FL)
DTX to LAS (Las Vegas, Nevada)
DTX to MCO (Orlando, Florida)
DTX to TPA (Tampa, FL)
Wednesday: 5 flights
DTX to DEN
DTX to LAS
DTX to MCO
DTX to MSY (New Orleans, LA)
DTX to TPA
Thursday: 7 flights
DTX to BNA (Nashville, TN)
DTX to DJT (West Palm Beach, FL)
DTX to FLL
DTX to LAS
DTX to MCO
DTX to MSY
DTX to TPA
Saturday: 6 flights
DTX to ATL
DTX to FLL
DTX to LAS
DTX to MCO
DTX to RSW (Fort Myers, FL)
DTX to SRQ (Sarasota-Bradenton, FL)
Sunday: 8 flights
DTX to BNA
DTX to DEN
DTX to DJT
DTX to FLL
DTX to LAS
DTX to MCO
DTX to MSY
DTX to TPA
The conditions
McKinney’s fiscal year 2026-27 budget projects about $3 million in revenue generated by the commercial terminal during the first year it is open. That includes airline fees, concession fees, rental car concession fees and parking fees, Shelton said during an Aug. 7 McKinney City Council work session.
The budget projects about $19.7 million in total revenue and $20.8 million in total expenses as part of its airport fund, which includes revenues and expenses generated by the airport’s general operations. The airport fund has been balanced in the previous five fiscal years.
City officials aim to make the airport self-sustaining within the first five years of commercial operation, Shelton said.
“Whatever the next need of the airport is, we want the airport to pay for itself and not have to lean on any other funding sources from the city,” Shelton said.
What the experts say
Steve Joiner, a principal lecturer within the University of North Texas’ Supply Chain Management department, teaches courses in aviation logistics. He said Avelo is establishing a new base in an area where people have money to travel. The ideal customer will be in cities like Plano and Frisco, he said.
Avelo Airlines operates as a “niche” airline that operates similarly to how Southwest Airlines started, he said.
“They’re starting up as the only operator in McKinney, in an area that is fairly removed from the other two large airports,” Joiner said. “That’s a good plan for them.”
What's next
City officials want the airport to be convenient for outgoing passengers while making McKinney a destination, Shelton said. They also want success for their partners at Avelo Airlines and the FAA, he said.
“If they succeed, then we succeed because they bring passengers in that accomplishes our goals,” Shelton said.
Avelo Airlines anticipates serving 260,000 passengers in the first year and reaching 900,000 annually by the third year, per a statement from the city.
City leaders are already in the process of determining what the airport’s future may look like after commercial service launches. The terminal's current configuration has the capacity to be expanded from four to six gates.
City Council members have also authorized a contract with Kimley-Horn to update the airport’s master plan.
Airport master plans are typically updated every 8-10 years. Carley said the existing master plan, which was updated in 2018, had a “small section” about commercial service.
“It really didn’t have a lot of key information that we have today,” he said.
