Avelo ends all six international routes, including Wilmington

Avelo Airlines has cancelled all six of its international routes, ending its overseas flying as it redeploys aircraft to domestic services, Simple Flying reports. The cuts affect flights from Hartford (BDL), Raleigh-Durham (RDU) and Wilmington, North Carolina (ILM), and leave Wilmington without any international service. According to the report, all international flights were terminated in January 2026.

The six routes affected

Simple Flying lists the following routes, all of which ended in January 2026:

• Hartford to Cancún (started November 2024)
• Hartford to Montego Bay (November 2024)
• Hartford to Punta Cana (February 2025)
• Raleigh-Durham to Montego Bay (February 2025)
• Raleigh-Durham to Punta Cana (February 2025)
• Wilmington to Punta Cana (December 2025)

The Hartford routes were the airline's first regular scheduled international services, according to the report. The Wilmington route lasted only a few weeks; Simple Flying says Avelo pulled its aircraft citing weaker-than-expected demand.

Why Avelo pulled back

The report describes the decision as part of a major network restructuring and a return to a domestic strategy after financial losses and fleet changes. Avelo is a Texas-based ultra-low-cost carrier, and Simple Flying notes it has a growing number of flights on the US East Coast.

Simple Flying cites Cirium data showing a weighted load factor of 62.6% in 2024, 69.3% in 2025 and 60.9% in 2026, averaging 68.5% across 93,573 round-trip international passengers. The article says airlines generally aim for at least 80% to operate profitably, and that Avelo's load factors peaked at around 79% in June 2025 before falling again after the summer.

Competition on the routes

Most of the routes faced no direct competition, per the report. The exceptions were Hartford to Cancún, where Frontier Airlines and JetBlue were listed as competitors, and Raleigh-Durham to Punta Cana, where American Airlines was listed.

What this means for travellers

The source describes the international flights as already terminated in January 2026, so travellers should not expect Avelo to operate any of these six routes. Anyone who still holds a booking should check with Avelo directly about refunds, as the source does not cover refund arrangements.

Wilmington passengers no longer have an international route from their local airport, and the source does not name alternatives from ILM. Travellers there would need to connect elsewhere or drive to another airport. From Hartford, the source says Frontier and JetBlue competed on the Cancún route, and from Raleigh-Durham, American competed on Punta Cana. Whether those airlines currently serve the routes is not confirmed in the source, so check schedules before booking. Montego Bay from Hartford and Raleigh-Durham, and Punta Cana from Hartford, had no direct competitor according to the report, so nonstop options may be limited.

Whether Avelo will return to international flying is not stated.

Sources: Simple Flying