ILM Director reacts to Avelo Airlines cutting service, closing Wilmington base

WILMINGTON, NC (WWAY) — Avelo Airlines is closing its base at Wilmington International Airport and cutting service from ILM to 11 destinations. 

Right after Christmas, with great fanfare, Avelo and ILM’s first international flight left the Wilmington airport for Punta Cana, Dominican Republic. 

The airline seemed to be flying high, but in a bit of a turnaround announced late Tuesday night it was eliminating Wilmington as a base of operations and cutting back the number of flights in and out of ILM including Punta Cana.  

“Obviously, we’re very disappointed in that,” said Jeff Bourke. 

ILM Director Jeff Bourke says ILM’s international distinction was short lived.  

“Being our first commercial service international route. It’s only been flying for, you know, about a month by the time that service stops,” said Bourke. 

In addition to Punta Cana, Avelo will be discontinuing 10 other flights. 

The news does not sit well with avid travelers like Sheila Brothers who liked Avelo’s no frill, low cost, ala carte brand of travel. 

“I mean, we’re disappointed but hopefully some other airline will step up to the plate,” said Brothers. 

There were some warning sings last week as Avelo canceled some flight during the holiday high season. 

But Bourke says the airline has been scaling back operations at the airport. 

“Avelo has shrunk by a third; their fleet was reduced from 22 aircraft to 16, and they had to make some tough choices and what it appears to me is they’ve chosen not to compete with Breeze,” said Bourke. 

Breeze, which like Avelo, is a low-cost alternative that flies to underserved regional airports.  

Right after Christmas, Avelo spokesperson Courteney Goff admitted to WWAY that Breeze was a worthy competitor they’ve been watching.  

“We’ve seen that a little bit as far as with people jumping on top of routes that we already serve,” said Goff. 

In a statement, Avelo tells WWAY that ILM is also not a protected airport, and most of the affected routes cannot handle more than one airline serving them due to demand.  

What does this all mean for ILM, its expansion, and jobs here in Wilmington.  

“There’s no slowdown at all in terms of the construction and the things that we’re doing to make sure that ILM can keep up with the growth and the demand that we have here at this airport,” said Bourke. 

Avelo will continue flights to New Haven, Connecticut, Tampa, Nashville, and Baltimore.