Avelo Airlines plans to establish a base at Wilmington International Airport and add three new nonstop destinations, including Nashville, Tennessee (BNA).

The other two nonstop flights are to Rochester, New York (ROC), and Boston/Manchester, New Hampshire (MHT), beginning in April.

Avelo's base plans will create 50 jobs, officials said during a news conference Wednesday morning at the airport.

"An ILM base means an aircraft living here dedicated to Wilmington International Airport, and that means local job growth and even more affordable, convenient and reliable service to come," said Trevor Yealy, Avelo’s head of commercial. "We're initially starting with a single based aircraft in early April, with nonstop service to three new destinations, and we plan to grow that with the second aircraft later in 2025."

Jeff Bourk, ILM director, said the jobs the base will create include pilots, mechanics, flight attendants and ground crews "right here in Wilmington."

Bourk said when Avelo made the announcement that it would be coming to Wilmington over two years ago, "the dream was for Avelo to have a base here. I never could have imagined it happen as quickly as it has." Avelo started with three flights, increasing to eight before Wednesday's news of three additional destinations.

Avelo will open its base at ILM on April 3, 2025, officials said with one Boeing Next-Generation 737. The second aircraft coming later next year will also be a 737.

Since starting service in June 2022, Avelo has flown more than 200,000 customers on over 2,000 flights at ILM, officials said. They said ticket prices for the new flights in April start at $44.

While low-cost carriers have been growing in the U.S. in recent years, Avelo was the first to land at ILM, followed by two more.

At the same time Yealy shared the ILM news in Wilmington, Avelo was also revealing growth in other North Carolina cities. The airline is also opening a base in a Charlotte-area airport, and Avelo plans to launch two international routes from Raleigh-Durham International Airport (RDU) in February with nonstop service to Montego Bay, Jamaica, and Punta Cana, Dominican Republic.

The discount carrier's existing flights at ILM are to Hartford, Connecticut (seasonal); New Haven, Connecticut; Wilmington, Delaware/Philadelphia (seasonal); Baltimore/Washington DC (seasonal); and Fort Lauderdale, Fort Myers (seasonal), Orlando and Tampa, Florida.

At Wednesday's news conference, Yealy said, "These three new routes join the eight routes we've been serving since 2022 to bring our total nonstop service to 11 destinations from ILM, and we look to continue growing that over time. Our work here is not done; rather, it's just beginning to see continued growth. We need to ensure that these routes work and work well, but with the community's continued support, the potential here, we believe, is limitless."

The airport has two other lower-cost airlines – Breeze Airways and Sun Country Airlines. Breeze is set to offer four seasonnal nonstop routes at ILM early next year – Hartford, Connecticut; Providence, Rhode Island; Orlando, Florida; and Fort Myers, Florida.