If you would have told me last year as service was being cut due to the pandemic that we’d have more air service out of our local airport that ever before, I would not have believed you. But it’s true. We went from United temporarily cutting both Los Angeles and Denver flights out of Arcata-Eureka (ACV) to two new airlines for a total of four new destinations in 2021. This includes the newest nonstop service that was just announced and will be beginning in a couple months.
Avelo Bringing Nonstop Flights to Las Vegas
Avelo Airlines began service to Arcata-Eureka back in May out of their Burbank hub (I flew the “inaugural”). The airline is still basically brand new and operates with a unique business model, serving rural airports out of a smaller “hub” airport (Burbank – BUR) with a low-cost carrier model. Now they are branching out. After adding Santa Rosa to Las Vegas service that just started last week, they’ve announced that they will operate the Arcata-Eureka to Las Vegas route!
Planned flights are on Thursdays and Sundays according to the following schedule:
- Avelo 147 – Departs ACV @ 3:00PM, arrives LAS @ 4:45 PM
- Avelo 148 – Departs ACV @ 5:25 PM, arrives ACV @ 7:25 PM
Service begins on November 18, 2021, operated by a Boeing 737-800. Fares start at $29 one-way, which is incredible.
Final Thoughts
Las Vegas is a popular destination for many, and I expect the service to do well. I hope we can maintain it. I’m very curious about the ACV-BUR passenger numbers, as I’d honestly expect this to be one of Avelo’s best routes, along with Santa Rosa (STS) to BUR.
It’s been an interesting ride over the years at our tiny airport, with travel taking a hit after the Great Recession and slowly rebounding since then. This brings our total nonstop destinations to six, and American’s service seems to be doing well enough that they added another daily flight. I think the future is bright!
