The first passenger flight from McKinney National Airport leaves Wednesday, Nov. 11, and it goes to Fort Myers. Las Vegas and Orlando start the next day, and Tampa and Fort Lauderdale follow on Nov. 19. By mid-December Avelo Airlines expects to fly to 11 cities from the airport, which uses the code DTX on boarding passes and booking sites.
Those opening dates are only part of the picture. DTX starts life as a weekly calendar. Each destination flies on its own fixed days, and one day of the week has no flights at all. For a McKinney household planning Thanksgiving or Christmas travel from the new terminal, the trip starts with which days the route flies and whether any of them fit the holiday.
Tuesday Is the Day DTX Sits Quiet
The City of McKinney's Sept. 24 announcement says Avelo will base three 184-seat Boeing 737-800 jets at DTX and fly Wednesday through Monday. The jets stay overnight in McKinney, starting and ending their day on the airport's apron, according to Airport Director Ken Carley's remarks at the Oct. 5 City Council meeting. With only three home-based planes, each route gets a few days a week. Two days of the week never fly the same set of cities.
Here is how the published schedule sets out the full week once all 11 routes are running in late December. Cities marked with an asterisk start in mid-December.
| Day | Scheduled nonstop destinations from DTX |
|---|---|
| Monday | Las Vegas, Orlando, Fort Lauderdale, Tampa, Atlanta*, Denver* |
| Tuesday | No scheduled flights |
| Wednesday | Fort Myers, Las Vegas, Atlanta*, Denver*, Sarasota/Bradenton* |
| Thursday | Las Vegas, Orlando, Fort Lauderdale, Tampa, Nashville*, New Orleans*, West Palm Beach* |
| Friday | Las Vegas, Orlando, Fort Lauderdale, Tampa, Atlanta*, Denver* |
| Saturday | Fort Myers, Las Vegas, Orlando, Fort Lauderdale, Atlanta*, Denver*, Sarasota/Bradenton* |
| Sunday | Las Vegas, Orlando, Fort Lauderdale, Tampa, Nashville*, New Orleans*, West Palm Beach* |
Some Florida cities skip Wednesday entirely. Orlando, Fort Lauderdale and Tampa don't fly midweek, and Tampa doesn't fly Saturday either. Fort Myers runs only Wednesdays and Saturdays. Las Vegas has the fullest schedule. Avelo raised it from four weekly flights to six on Oct. 15, adding Wednesday and Saturday service for the peak holiday travel season.
Thanksgiving Week, Day by Day
Thanksgiving falls on Thursday, Nov. 26, 2026. That means the Tuesday before the holiday, a traditional getaway day, is a day DTX has no scheduled departures. If the November schedule holds, the week looks like this:
- Monday, Nov. 23: Las Vegas, Orlando, Fort Lauderdale, Tampa
- Tuesday, Nov. 24: none
- Wednesday, Nov. 25: Fort Myers, Las Vegas
- Thursday, Nov. 26: Las Vegas, Orlando, Fort Lauderdale, Tampa
- Friday, Nov. 27: Las Vegas, Orlando, Fort Lauderdale, Tampa
- Saturday, Nov. 28: Fort Myers, Las Vegas, Orlando, Fort Lauderdale
- Sunday, Nov. 29: Las Vegas, Orlando, Fort Lauderdale, Tampa
A family heading to Orlando for the long weekend has Monday or Thanksgiving Day itself to leave from McKinney, with Sunday available for the trip home. Anyone headed to Tampa faces the same pattern but loses Saturday. Thanksgiving week is also only the airport's third week of passenger service. Tampa and Fort Lauderdale will have been flying for just one week by then.
Avelo's own terms say fares, routes and schedules can change until a ticket is issued. Check the day-by-day pattern against AveloAir.com when booking.
December Doubles the Map a Week Before Christmas
The route list kept growing before a single passenger flight left the runway. In June, Avelo announced five destinations. On Sept. 24, Atlanta, Denver, Nashville and New Orleans were added, along with a third based aircraft. On Oct. 15, Avelo added Sarasota/Bradenton and West Palm Beach, bringing the DTX network to 11.
All six later cities start over two days, Wednesday, Dec. 16, and Thursday, Dec. 17:
- Atlanta and Denver begin Dec. 16 and fly Mondays, Wednesdays, Fridays and Saturdays.
- Sarasota/Bradenton begins Dec. 16 and flies Wednesdays and Saturdays.
- Nashville and New Orleans begin Dec. 17 and fly Thursdays and Sundays.
- West Palm Beach begins Dec. 17 and flies Thursdays and Sundays.
Christmas Day 2026 falls on a Friday, so the new cities get just one week of service before the holiday. Tuesday, Dec. 22, is still a no-flight day. Atlanta and Denver offer Monday, Dec. 21, and Wednesday, Dec. 23. Nashville, New Orleans and West Palm Beach offer Thursday, Dec. 24, and then Sunday, Dec. 27, for the return. A McKinney resident flying to family in Denver or Atlanta has more December choices from DTX than a resident flying to Fort Myers, which still runs only twice a week.
Curb to Gate at 1910 FM 546
The terminal has its own address and entrance. The City lists the terminal at 1910 FM 546. According to FlyDTX.com, the 980-space public parking lot has a dedicated access road off FM 546. Directions that send you to the airport's longtime Industrial Boulevard address are pointing to the wrong place.
According to Community Impact's report from the Sept. 24 press conference, the building is part of a $79 million terminal and infrastructure project that was on track to open Nov. 11, roughly 18 months after groundbreaking. It launches with four gates and has room to add a fifth and sixth. Carley told reporters the terminal is designed for up to 1 million passengers a year. The same report lists the practical details for travelers:
- Parking: 980 public spaces at $15 a day, paid through a contactless system
- Rental cars: Enterprise, on site
- Art: two murals by Texas-based artists, one in the curbside area and one in baggage claim
A four-night Thanksgiving trip comes to $60 in parking at that daily rate. On timing, Avelo's McKinney destination page recommends arriving at least 90 minutes before departure. The ticket counter opens about two hours before a flight and closes 40 minutes before takeoff. Since only a handful of flights leave on any given day, a missed counter cutoff could mean waiting days for the next flight to that city, not hours.
The Coffee May Arrive After the Planes
The airfield is ready. On Oct. 23, the City announced that the Federal Aviation Administration had issued DTX its Airport Operating Certificate, the federal approval required for scheduled airline service. The approval followed FAA inspections in September and a full-scale emergency exercise on Sept. 18. Community Impact reported that the FAA's Ignacio Flores said the last time a Texas airport received such a certificate was more than 20 years ago.
Food and drink inside the terminal is on a later timeline. On Oct. 5, the City Council approved Creative Hospitality Solutions as the terminal's food and beverage operator. Its concept is called Square and Sky, a nod to the McKinney Square. Carley told the council it would bring a local coffee vendor, locally sourced food and local souvenirs. City staff were candid about timing in the meeting video. They said the concessions process had to be bid twice because the first request drew only two responses, before Avelo's routes were public. Even with approval that night, staff said, the city would be "hard pressed" to have the operator serving by the first flight. The same meeting approved $400,000 of restored scope, paid from existing contingencies and savings, that finishes the concession space between hold rooms three and four.
For the first departures in November, plan on getting coffee in McKinney before you drive to the airport. The concession space will be between hold rooms three and four, and Square and Sky will run it once it opens.
If you'd like to talk through how a 10-minute drive to your own airport fits into a move to McKinney or a nearby part of Collin County, The Bracchi Group is glad to help. Contact Us to start the conversation.
