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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.
(Reporting by Tracy Rucinski; Editing by Leslie Adler)
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