Avelo Airlines

**Avelo Airlines** (formerly **Casino Express Airlines**, and then **Xtra Airways**) is an American ultra-low-cost carrier headquartered in Houston, Texas, with flight operations based out of Hollywood Burbank Airport in California. The airline's first flight under the Avelo name was on April 28, 2021 from Burbank to Santa Rosa, California. Avelo is certified by the US Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) to conduct domestic and international operations.

## History

Established in 1987 as Casino Express Airlines, the air carrier began operations in 1989 using Boeing 737-200 jetliners flying exclusively for the Red Lion Hotel and Casino in Elko, Nevada. Casino Express operated 737 jet service from Elko Regional Airport nonstop to many cities in the US. In 1994, Casino Express was operating scheduled weekend only flights nonstop between Elko (EKO) and Portland, Oregon, (PDX) and Seattle (SEA) with McDonnell Douglas MD-80 jetliners. Casino Express Airlines also operated one Boeing 737-200 jetliner for the start-up airline Tahoe Air, which provided scheduled passenger air service from the South Lake Tahoe Airport nonstop flights to Los Angeles International Airport in southern California and also nonstop service to San Jose International Airport in northern California.

Casino Express quickly expanded its customer base to include sports teams, government agencies, foreign dignitaries, press corps, other gaming properties, and other types of public and private charters. It changed its name to Xtra Airways on December 8, 2005, to reflect its broader focus. The airline moved its headquarters in June 2010 to Boise, Idaho

Xtra Airways changed its aircraft livery in 2015 to an executive jet style, displaying flag blue and red stripes.

In September 2016, it began operating a Boeing 737-800 (registration: N881XA), repainted in a sky-blue and white livery with "Stronger Together" titles, for the Hillary Clinton 2016 presidential campaign. Soon afterward a second aircraft, Boeing 737-400 (N314XA), was also pressed into service for the campaign, painted with a sky blue stripe and "Clinton/Kaine" titles.

Andrew Levy, a former chief financial officer (CFO) for United Continental Holdings and a former CFO, president and chief operations officer of Allegiant Air, acquired Xtra in August 2018, with the intent of transforming the charter airline into a scheduled low-cost airline. Xtra had sold most of its fleet to Swift Air, but kept one Boeing 737-400 to retain its FAA Part 121 Regularly Scheduled Air Carrier certification. By April 2019, the airline was considering operating Boeing 737-800s due to the Boeing 737 MAX groundings.

In February 2020, Levy announced the new holding company for Xtra, named Houston Air Holdings, Inc., reflecting the company's Houston headquarters. The same month, the company raised US$125 million in funding and received its first airplane from GE Capital Aviation Services ahead of its plans to launch scheduled operations later in 2020.

On April 8, 2021, the new airline was announced under the name Avelo Airlines, and began selling tickets for flights based at Hollywood Burbank Airport in California. Its initial route network consisted of eleven unserved destinations from Burbank, launching between April 28 and May 20, 2021, with an initial fleet of three Boeing 737-800s, expanding to six by the end of 2021. Avelo's announcement of its entry into scheduled flight operations was met with competitive response initially from American and Alaska Airlines, with American upgauging the aircraft on its existing route between Phoenix Sky Harbor and Burbank, while Alaska announced a new service between Burbank and Santa Rosa to start on June 1, 2021. Avelo's inaugural flight occurred on April 28, 2021, which traveled from its Burbank base to Santa Rosa's Sonoma County Airport.

Following the airline's launch in late April, Avelo announced on May 6, 2021, that it would open a new base at Tweed New Haven Airport in Connecticut during the third quarter of 2021. The airline additionally announced that it planned to invest US$1.2 million towards New Haven airport's facilities, and that it would use Boeing 737-700 aircraft for its operations at the new base.

## Fleet

As of September 2021, the Avelo Airlines fleet includes the following aircraft:

Avelo Airlines fleet
service
 Boeing 737-800
 Total

## Former Fleet

As Xtra Airways, the airline previously operated the following aircraft:

Avelo Airlines former fleet
 Boeing 737-400