Avelo Airlines To Grow Fleet With Five Boeing 737NGs Sourced From Brazil’s GOL

U.S. carrier Avelo Airlines will add five leased Boeing 737NGs to its fleet sourced from Brazilian LCC GOL Linhas Aéreas, bolstering its current fleet of 16 737NGs.

The five aircraft will arrive between May 2024 and the first quarter of 2025, Avelo Commercial Head Trevor Yealy, who oversees the airline’s network planning and revenue management, told Aviation Week Network in an interview. GOL’s January Chapter 11 bankruptcy filing creates uncertainty about the precise schedule for the aircraft transfers, but all will be in Avelo’s fleet by the end of next year’s first quarter, Yealy said.

As GOL “works through their [Chapter 11] process, we'll start to get more certainty on exactly when our aircraft will come out of their fleet and be delivered to us,” he said. “Our expectation is that we'll see some of them this year and some of them early next year because it's entirely dependent on the prior operator giving it back to the leasing company on time.”

Avelo currently operates a fleet of nine 737-800s configured to carry 189 passengers and seven 737-700s with 149 seats. All are used, leased aircraft. Four of the GOL 737s are -800s, and one is a -700.

Avelo, which launched service in April 2021, plans to continue the strategy of operating an all-737NG fleet, utilizing both used -700s and -800s. Yealy said the airline is seeking used 737NGs beyond the five GOL aircraft and has signed letters of intent “on a few more that are not GOL aircraft.”

The 737NGs are “very reliable, easy to operate and maintain, just because of their ubiquity,” Yealy said. “We're quite happy with them and their performance and we'll be getting more.”

Avelo’s fleet is spread among six airport bases, with five aircraft stationed at Tweed-New Haven Airport (HVN) in southern Connecticut. Three aircraft are based at Southern California’s Hollywood Burbank Airport (BUR). BUR and HVN were the airline’s original bases.

There are two Avelo 737NGs each based at Florida's Orlando International Airport, Wilmington Airport in Delaware and Raleigh-Durham International Airport (RDU) in North Carolina. An aircraft currently based at Las Vegas Reid International Airport (LAS) will be moved to Charles M. Schulz-Sonoma County Airport (STS) in Santa Rosa, California on May 1, as the airline shifts a base from LAS to STS. A 16^th aircraft floats and is used for charter flights.

Yealy said each base operates with independence. “We've got basically six different systems,” he explained. “They're really six independently operated airlines or bases that come up and roll up into a single airline.”

The airline has unveiled Albany International Airport (ALB) in New York state as a new network point, with 2X-weekly flights between ALB and RDU starting May 10. Also on that date, the carrier will commence 2X-weekly service between New Hampshire’s Manchester-Boston Regional Airport (located 50 mi. north of Boston Logan International Airport) and Greenville-Spartanburg International Airport (GSP) in South Carolina.

From May 9, the airline will open 2X-weekly service between GSP and Frederick Douglass Greater Rochester International Airport in New York state.

Avelo’s network spans 48 destinations across 23 U.S. states and Puerto Rico.