Dallas is getting a third commercial airport, and McKinney National Airport flights will begin this November with budget carrier Avelo Airlines as the anchor tenant. Avelo announced Tuesday it will be the first airline to serve McKinney National Airport (DTX), with a new terminal and commercial service expected to debut later this year.
McKinney National Airport joins the Dallas-Fort Worth Metroplex
The move caps years of planning. McKinney leaders had long discussed converting the 40-year-old general aviation field into a commercial airport, and the city broke ground last summer on a 46,000-square-foot terminal built to house real passenger gates. The goal was to give North Texans an alternative to the region's two larger hubs.
McKinney National Airport sits in fast-growing Collin County, more than 30 miles from both Dallas Fort Worth International Airport (DFW) and Southwest Airlines' home base at Dallas Love Field (DAL). With the terminal on track to open later this year, flights from DTX are now scheduled and on sale.
Avelo's five initial routes from DTX
Avelo will base two Boeing 737-800 jets and around 100 crewmembers at McKinney. The carrier's first five routes all launch in November:
- Las Vegas Harry Reid International (LAS) — starts Nov. 12, four times weekly
- Fort Lauderdale-Hollywood International (FLL) — starts Nov. 19, five times weekly
- Southwest Florida International (RSW), near Fort Myers — starts Nov. 11, twice weekly
- Orlando International (MCO) — starts Nov. 12, five times weekly
- Tampa International (TPA) — starts Nov. 19, four times weekly
Four of the five destinations are in Florida, with Las Vegas rounding out the list — a lineup that matches Avelo's ultra-low-cost model of bare-bones, discounted fares aimed at leisure travelers, similar to Frontier Airlines and the now-defunct Spirit Airlines.
Will McKinney and Avelo succeed?
Avelo's track record is mixed. Financial pressure forced the airline to abandon its West Coast route network last summer, but it has remained a fixture at Tweed-New Haven Airport in Connecticut, another market with no scheduled service before Avelo arrived. McKinney presents a similar opportunity: since Spirit Airlines' collapse in May, industry watchers say the strongest openings for low-cost carriers involve niche markets with little competition from larger airlines, and DTX fits that description.
Getting in early on budget airline flight deals out of a new airport is a gamble, though — travelers have spent decades defaulting to DFW and Love Field, and neither Avelo nor McKinney is a household name yet. Whether bargain-hunters searching Google Flights and Kayak choose DTX over the established hubs will determine how the bet pays off.
"Avelo was built for moments like this, and we are thrilled to be the launch and anchor airline at McKinney," Avelo founder and CEO Andrew Levy said in a statement.
What comes next for DTX
McKinney's four-gate terminal remains on track to open later in 2026, with room to expand to six gates in the future. The airport is expected to handle 200,000 passengers annually at first, with capacity to grow toward 1 million passengers a year. With Avelo's routes launching in mid-November, McKinney National Airport should be operating in time for the Thanksgiving travel rush.
The bigger test comes after opening day. A four-gate terminal with room to double in size signals that McKinney leaders expect demand to build gradually rather than all at once, and Avelo's willingness to station two aircraft there suggests the carrier sees more than a one-route experiment. Follow more airline route news as additional carriers weigh in on the new Metroplex option and as McKinney's opening date firms up.
Dallas' third airport: quick answers
When does McKinney National Airport open to commercial flights?
The new terminal and Avelo Airlines' first flights are on track for later in 2026, with all five initial routes launching in November.
Where does McKinney National Airport fly to?
Avelo's initial lineup covers Las Vegas, Fort Lauderdale, Fort Myers (Southwest Florida International), Orlando and Tampa.
