Sitting Comfortably? Avelo Airlines Begins 1st Red-Eye Flight Today

Avelo's first revenue-generating flight was more than four years ago, in April 2021. Since then, the听听has not had red eyes, partly because it adds more crew and operational complexity than daytime services. However, that changes on听June 12, the day of writing,听when its first overnight flight takes off.

Avelo Airlines

IATA/ICAO Code
XP/VXP
Airline Type
Hub(s)
,听,听,听,听, Wilmington Airport
Year Founded
2018

On June 12,听Tweed New Haven and San Juan听will have Avelo's first red-eye service. The carrier will leave for Puerto Rico at 20:59 and return at 06:45 the next day.听听Diio indicates that this is its fourth-longest route across its whole network, and鈥攚hen other carriers are considered鈥攐vernight flights from San Juan to the US mainland are commonplace.听.

Takeoff: Avelo's 1st Overnight Flight

Avelo HVN-SJU Image: GCMap

The Boeing 737-operating airline has served听Tweed New Haven-San Juan听since November 2023, and flights have always been during the day. However, some of the schedule will be very different from now on.

On Thursdays and Sundays, a 189-seat 737-800 will operate XP327, departing Connecticut at听20:59听and arriving in Puerto Rico at听00:45+1. On Fridays and Mondays, XP328 will leave San Juan at听02:42听and get back to Tweed New Haven at听06:45. The remaining services (on Wednesdays and Saturdays) will continue to operate during the day.

It is unclear if this change is driven by Avelo's desire to increase aircraft productivity, Tweed New Haven's lack of aircraft stands for overnight parking, or otherwise. Speaking to听, Avelo's director of network planning, Mike Corcoran, said,

It's not a hard-set rule [to avoid red-eyes] if there are benefits to be found. We鈥檇 certainly look at adding more if there鈥檚 reason to believe that it鈥檚 the best use of aircraft time without adding cost or operational risk.

The 06:45 Arrival Is Tweed New Haven's Earliest Yet

Pan Am Clipper Connection Jetstream 31 Photo:听

Using Cirium Diio to explore Tweed New Haven's schedules in the past 20 years shows that no other scheduled flight has arrived at or before 06:45. Until now, the earliest arrival time was at 07:00. The airline and routes were very different, and the services did not exist for long.

In 2007, Pan Am Clipper Connection, owned and operated by Boston-Maine Airways, deployed 19-seat Jetstream 31s from Elmira and Portsmouth to Tweed New Haven. In both cases, a thrice-daily service operated during the week for business travel. The first flight of the day left at 06:00 and arrived in Connecticut at 07:00.

Needless to say, most of these routes have been cut.

6% Of San Juan-US Mainland Flights Leave Between 00:00 & 04:59

Avelo Boeing 737-800 Photo:听

American, Avelo, Delta, Frontier, JetBlue, Southwest, Spirit, Sun Country, and United all operate from Puerto Rico back to the US mainland. They'll fly to 34 airports in听June, with an average of 105 daily departures.

Analyzing every service shows that 6% of flights鈥攊ncluding Avelo's鈥攚ill leave San Juan between听00:00 and 04:59. You'll notice from the following table that some routes have different departure times, with only the most common schedule stated. Four departures go to the Northeast, with more leaving from 05:00 onwards.

Departure Time In听June听From San Juan To The US Mainland

Airline

Destination

00:59

American

Dallas/Fort Worth (daily 737-800)

00:59

Frontier

Philadelphia (daily A321neo)

01:05

United

Newark (daily 737 MAX 9)

01:27 (some flights go at 01:33)

Spirit

Dallas/Fort Worth (daily A320neo)

01:59 (some flights go at 02:36)

Spirit

Orlando (daily A320ceo)

02:05

United

Houston Intercontinental (daily 737 MAX 9)

02:42

Avelo

Tweed New Haven (twice-weekly 737-800)

03:23 (some flights go at 01:55 and 03:33)

JetBlue

New York JFK (daily A321ceo)

03:40

Frontier

Orlando (daily, mainly A320neo)