On the Wednesday before Thanksgiving, the schedule Avelo Airlines has published shows one route leaving McKinney, and it goes to Fort Myers. Orlando, Las Vegas, Tampa and Fort Lauderdale all leave from the same new terminal on FM 546, but none of them operates on Wednesdays.
That is the real adjustment McKinney National Airport asks of its neighbors. The airport, known by the code DTX, opens its commercial passenger terminal on Wednesday, Nov. 11. The City of McKinney confirmed that construction was on schedule when it gave a preview tour on Sept. 24. Getting to the airport becomes easy. Getting on a flight depends on which day of the week you want to leave.
Six Flying Days, Not Seven
Avelo, the Houston-based carrier opening DTX, will base three 184-seat Boeing Next-Generation 737-800s in McKinney. It flies from DTX Wednesday through Monday. So no flights leave on Tuesdays. Each of the nine routes also has its own fixed operating days:
| Route | Service begins | Operating days | Weekly flights |
|---|---|---|---|
| Fort Myers (RSW) | Wed., Nov. 11 | Wed., Sat. | 2 |
| Las Vegas (LAS) | Thu., Nov. 12 | Mon., Thu., Fri., Sun. | 4 |
| Orlando (MCO) | Thu., Nov. 12 | Mon., Thu., Fri., Sat., Sun. | 5 |
| Tampa (TPA) | Thu., Nov. 19 | Mon., Thu., Fri., Sun. | 4 |
| Fort Lauderdale (FLL) | Thu., Nov. 19 | Mon., Thu., Fri., Sat., Sun. | 5 |
| Atlanta (ATL) | Wed., Dec. 16 | Mon., Wed., Fri., Sat. | 4 |
| Denver (DEN) | Wed., Dec. 16 | Mon., Wed., Fri., Sat. | 4 |
| Nashville (BNA) | Thu., Dec. 17 | Thu., Sun. | 2 |
| New Orleans (MSY) | Thu., Dec. 17 | Thu., Sun. | 2 |
Count the table by day of the week and a pattern shows up. Once all nine routes are running in December, six of them operate on Thursdays, six on Fridays, six on Sundays and six on Mondays. Five operate on Saturdays. Only three operate on Wednesdays, and none on Tuesdays. The schedule is built around long weekends. A Thursday departure with a Sunday or Monday return gives you the widest choice of cities. A midweek trip gives you the fewest.
One source differs on Denver. Community Impact lists Sunday instead of Saturday. Avelo's own announcement and the City's release both list Saturday, so the table follows them. Check the Denver days at booking either way.
Thanksgiving Week on the DTX Calendar
The terminal opens just over two weeks before Thanksgiving, which falls on Nov. 26 this year. All five November routes will be flying by then, since Tampa and Fort Lauderdale start Nov. 19. The four December cities won't be. Atlanta, Denver, Nashville and New Orleans are out of reach from DTX until mid-December.
Here is how the published weekly pattern lines up with the holiday:
- Wednesday, Nov. 25. Fort Myers is the only route on the schedule.
- Thursday, Nov. 26. Las Vegas, Orlando, Tampa and Fort Lauderdale all fly on Thursdays.
- Friday, Nov. 27 through Sunday, Nov. 29. The same four routes fly Friday and Sunday. Orlando and Fort Lauderdale add Saturday, and Fort Myers flies Saturday as well.
- Monday, Nov. 30. Las Vegas, Orlando, Tampa and Fort Lauderdale all fly on Mondays, which makes a Monday return possible on four of the five November routes.
For anyone staying in town, that same weekend is McKinney's Home for the Holidays, Friday through Sunday, Nov. 27 to 29. Admission is free, and the tree lighting is Friday at 6:15 p.m., according to the downtown calendar. Since four routes operate on Fridays, a Thursday trip and a downtown holiday weekend can't easily share the same few days.
Twice-Weekly Routes Set the Trip Length
The Las Vegas, Orlando, Tampa and Fort Lauderdale routes fly four or five days a week, so you have some choice of dates. The three twice-weekly routes mostly set the trip length for you.
Fort Myers flies Wednesdays and Saturdays. That allows a Wednesday-to-Saturday trip, a Saturday-to-Wednesday trip, or a full week from one Wednesday or Saturday to the next. Nashville and New Orleans fly Thursdays and Sundays, which fits a Thursday-to-Sunday weekend or a longer Sunday-to-Thursday stay.
Christmas Eve falls on a Thursday this year, one week after Nashville and New Orleans service begins on Dec. 17. If the published pattern holds through the holidays, those two cities fall on the Thursday rotation that week. Atlanta and Denver fly Mondays, Wednesdays, Fridays and Saturdays, so they give December travelers more midweek choices than any route in November does.
Fares start at $99 one way, Community Impact reported. Booking is on Avelo's website, where the airport appears under the code DTX on itineraries, boarding passes and bag tags.
A Short Trip From the Curb
Getting from the car to the gate is the part the airport controls. In the same Community Impact report, Avelo founder and CEO Andrew Levy said, "It's faster, it's easier and it's just simply better in terms of when you're on the ground to get on the plane." Here is what is set so far:
- Address. Visit McKinney lists the terminal at 1910 FM 546, McKinney, TX 75069, with access from US 380 and US 75. Avelo's destination page gives a different address, 1508 Industrial Blvd. Confirm your navigation destination before your first trip.
- Parking. The terminal has 980 public spaces at $15 a day, paid through a contactless system, airport director Ken Carley said at the Sept. 24 preview. The lot sits at the terminal, with no shuttle or remote lot. At that rate, a Fort Myers trip from Wednesday to Saturday comes to about $60 in parking.
- Arrival time. Avelo recommends arriving at least 90 minutes before departure. Its ticket counters open about two hours before each scheduled flight and close 40 minutes before takeoff.
- Ground transportation. Pickup and drop-off are at the curb.
The 40-minute counter cutoff matters most for anyone used to the bigger airports. Getting to a small terminal is quicker, but the airline's deadline stays fixed.
Coffee, Murals and a Rental Counter
On Oct. 5, McKinney City Council approved a concession agreement with Creative Hospitality Solutions, Community Impact reported. The company scored highest among eight proposals. Its stand in the terminal seating area will serve coffee, tea, baked goods, packaged snacks and cold drinks. The company has proposed a full coffee and specialty beverage bar using North Texas-based Armor Coffee Company, plus a "McKinney Made" shelf of local goods. Those plans are still a proposal and could change before opening day.
The council also approved Enterprise Holdings as the rental car operator, with a counter near the terminal entrances and 24 reserved parking spaces. Enterprise has supplied cars to McKinney Air Center, the airport's private and corporate aviation side, for years.
Two murals by Texas-based artists are planned, one in the curbside area and one in baggage claim. The City's design brief for the murals calls the theme "Heritage Modern," mixing historical character with contemporary simplicity, and asks for artwork that features McKinney. Dallas-based Corgan designed the terminal as a street-level building on the airport's east side. It covers 46,000 square feet.
The Building Is Sized for More Than the Schedule
The terminal opens with four gates and has room for a fifth and sixth. Carley said it is designed to handle up to 1 million passengers a year. Earlier Community Impact reporting projected 200,000 passengers in its first year, about a fifth of that capacity. The terminal and related infrastructure cost $79 million, and the runway now runs 8,002 feet.
Avelo added four destinations and a third aircraft in September, before its first McKinney flight had even taken off. Nine routes on six days a week is how the airport starts. The four-gate building, with room for six, was designed for more traffic than the launch schedule carries.
Questions about how DTX fits into life in McKinney, or in nearby Frisco and Prosper, are the kind of local detail Local Life follows closely. If a home near the new terminal is part of your plans, Schedule a Private Consultation and we will go over it with you.
