Avelo Air, Pasco’s Disneyland connection, shutting down West Coast flights
AI-generated summary reviewed by our newsroom.
- Avelo Air will exit Tri-Cities Airport, ending flights to Burbank.
- Pasco loses one of two Los Angeles area links; Alaska Airlines remains option.
- Avelo shifts focus to East Coast, cuts West Coast routes including Pasco service.
The Tri-Cities Airport is losing one of the six airlines that call on Pasco.
Avelo Air, a low-cost carrier established in 2021, announced Monday it will wind down flights out of its base at Burbank, Calif., ending altogether by December.
Tri-Cities Airport officials confirmed they learned of the decision about the same time it was announced to Avelo employees.
Adam Lincoln, executive director for the Port of Pasco, which owns the airport, lamented the loss, noting the flight connecting Pasco to Avelo’s hub at Hollywood Burbank Airport performed well.
In losing Avelo, Pasco is losing one of two connections to the Los Angeles area, a popular destination for local travelers.
Alaska Airlines offers daily service to Los Angeles International Airport.
“That will remain our region’s best option,” he told the Tri-City Herald.
Avelo will reportedly stop calling on airports on the West Coast, including in California, Oregon, Washington and Montana, to concentrate on the East Coast.
Avelo launched in 2021 and made its debut in Pasco in late April, ferrying a plane full of cheerful passengers headed to Disneyland.
In 2024, it added a flight to the Charles M. Schultz Airport in Sonoma, Calif., but canceled it almost immediately for low ridership.
More recently, it drew criticism from some for a federal contract to conduct deportation flights for ICE, though that was reportedly not a factor in the move to shift its focus and its airplanes to the East Coast.
The Tri-Cities Airport is served by five additional airlines: Alaska, American, Delta, United, and Allegiant.
The Tri-Cities Airport is one of the busier airports in Washington after Seattle-Tacoma International and Spokane. It posted a record 478,000 passenger boardings in 2024.
Go to flytricities.com.