Avelo Airlines, the low-budget airline that has flown out of Tweed New Haven Airport since 2021, is expanding its service in Connecticut.
It’s adding nonstop flights to Mexico and Jamaica from Bradley International Airport in Windsor Locks.
The airline is taking advantage of a two-year exemption on aviation fuel tax in Connecticut to provide nonstop flights from Bradley to Cancun, Mexico and Montego Bay, Jamaica, said Andrew Levy, the CEO and founder of Avelo.
“These are long haul flights where the cost of jet fuel is a very big part of the economics. And the result is us having a lot more service out of Connecticut,” he said.
Connecticut House Speaker Matt Ritter said that's what lawmakers were hoping to achieve when they passed the aviation fuel tax exemption last year.
“It was temporary for two years to see that it worked, and it was effective. You should revisit public policy every couple of years and we'll do that because we think it’s been effective,” Ritter said.
The increased volume of jet fuel sold by having the airlines fueled in Connecticut should offset the loss of tax revenue.
With the addition of the new flights, Avelo will serve 33 routes from Connecticut.
