Avelo Airlines will become the first scheduled commercial carrier at McKinney National Airport, roughly 30 miles north of downtown Dallas, with a base launch set for November 11, 2026. Tickets are already on sale, but the terminal and airfield infrastructure are not finished.
The airline plans to station two Boeing 737 aircraft at McKinney and operate five routes at launch: Fort Myers beginning November 11, Las Vegas and Orlando beginning November 12, and Fort Lauderdale and Tampa beginning November 19. Frequencies range from twice weekly on Fort Myers to five times weekly on Fort Lauderdale and Orlando.
For crew, a two-aircraft base means initial staffing is limited, but it establishes a new domicile in the growing northern Dallas suburbs — a market where Avelo avoids direct overlap with American at DFW and Southwest at Love Field.
The airport is adopting the commercial passenger code DTX — distinct from its existing FAA identifier TKI — to appear on reservations, boarding passes, and baggage tags. Avelo is marketing the destination as Dallas/McKinney (DTX). Dallas will then have three commercial service airports: DFW, DAL, and DTX.
As of the airport's July construction update, interior finishes were just getting underway. Work on the aircraft apron and Taxiway Charlie was still ongoing, and major fuel farm components were not scheduled for delivery until August. Roadway work and landscaping were also incomplete.
Beyond finishing the physical facility, McKinney is working through FAA Part 139 certification requirements for scheduled commercial service. TSA screening, baggage handling, credentialing, and all associated operational systems must be in place before the first revenue departure. The airport has operated for years as a general aviation field, so the airfield itself is established — but handling scheduled passenger operations is a different regulatory and logistical category entirely.
Avelo has used this playbook before. The carrier restored scheduled service at Lakeland International Airport in Central Florida in 2024 after more than a decade without regular commercial flights, positioning itself at a secondary airport to serve travelers who would otherwise drive to a larger hub.
The airline also carries recent baggage worth noting. In 2025, Avelo operated charter deportation flights for the Department of Homeland Security, drawing protests and boycott calls. The airline ended those flights in January 2026 and closed the Mesa, Arizona base connected to the operation, citing insufficient predictable revenue relative to costs and operational complexity. The charter flying is over; the controversy is part of the airline's recent record as it refocuses on its scheduled network.
November 11 remains the stated target for first departure from DTX. Whether construction, Part 139 certification, and all supporting operational requirements converge on that date is the open question.
