A Houston-based airline will be the first to fly out of McKinney Airport’s new passenger terminal.
Avelo Airlines faced controversy earlier this year for providing charter flights for Immigration and Customs Enforcement.
The five-year agreement allows Avelo Airlines the use of the airport’s runway and taxiways and office and administrative space according to a release from the city. Avelo is expected to announce a launch date and destinations a few months before the commercial terminal opens.
McKinney Mayor Bill Cox praised the agreement with Avelo in a release from the city.
“We have reached an important milestone at McKinney National Airport by signing the first Airline Use and Lease Agreement,” Cox said.
“The airport team has been working diligently to deliver convenient and affordable nonstop airline service to our residents and visitors, and we applaud them for their efforts to serve our community.”
Andrew Levy, the founder and CEO of Avelo Airlines, said in a release from the city the airline is expected to create more than 100 new jobs for the region when it begins service.
“We are very excited to be the launch airline at TKI,” Levy said. “We believe that our everyday low fares, convenient and reliable service, combined with an easy-to-use, small airport, is a combination the residents of McKinney and North Texas will enthusiastically embrace.”
The construction of the new passenger terminal at the McKinney National Airport is expected to finish in late 2026 according to a release from the city. The city council approved a budget amendment appropriating the remaining $7.4 million in funds from the $22.4 million for the project the McKinney Economic Development Corporation approved for the terminal in May 2025.
The Houston-based budget airline has faced controversy for its contract with Immigration and Customs Enforcement for deportation charter flights out of Mesa, Arizona. Levy told NPR in April in an emailed statement it was a financial decision.
"We realize this is a sensitive and complicated topic,” Levy said in the statement. "After significant deliberations, we determined this charter flying will provide us with the stability to continue expanding our core scheduled passenger service and keep our more than 1,100 Crewmembers employed for years to come."
The city said it’s unable to speak to Avelo’s contract with the federal government when asked if the airline would be conducting deportation flights out of the McKinney airport.
Avelo Airlines told KERA via email its services in McKinney will be commercial only and that their charter operations won’t affect the McKinney airport.
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