7 New Flights Out of Lakeland

Most of us who live here fly out of Tampa International Airport. Sometimes you can find a good deal out of St. Pete/Clearwater's Airport, which is growing fast. I have to admit. I had no idea Lakeland even had an airport that's used for commercial flights. Avelo Airlines is now offering flights out of Lakeland Linder International Airport to 7 cities according to The Ledger. One's even an international destination. More on the new 7 cities you can fly to from Lakeland in a moment.

Avelo is a relatively new airline. They just launched 3 years ago back in April of 2021. They are a discount airline that flies in and out of smaller airports. Those smaller airports charge airlines less and they can be a lot less stressful than dealing with the mega airports like O'Hare or Newark.

Looking at the route map on their website, Avelo flies mostly to cities along the east and west coast. Here in Florida, they fly out of Daytona, Fort Walton Beach, Sarasota/Bradenton, Fort Myers, Fort Lauderdale, West Palm Beach, Tampa, Orlando and Lakeland.

Tickets are now being sold for flights out of Lakeland to Atlanta, Charlotte, Hartford, Manchester (New Hampshire), Wilmington (Delaware), Rochester and San Juan, Puerto Rico. Most of these new routes begin service in the fall either in October or November. But the price is right. Tickets for these one way flights out of Lakeland start under $100 for all 7 cities.

The cities on the list may not be of direct appeal. But keep in mind many are close to bigger cities. Hartford is an alternative to flying in to one of the enormous overcrowded New York City airports. Manchester isn't very far from Boston. Wilmington is close enough to hop on a train and go get a legit Philly Cheesesteak in the City of Brotherly Love, Philadelphia.

Tickets are on sale now for these 7 new flights out of Lakeland at Avelo Airlines' official website aveloair.com.

Got a roundtrip ticket from Tampa to Philly for under $100! This is a great time of year to travel if your schedule allows for it. Flights are super cheap because summer vacation season isn't here yet. There were a handful of cities I've meant to visit for years but just never got around to it so I booked some quick 48 hour weekend getaways.

I made my first visits to New Orleans (photos) and Nashville (photos). And I booked a few weekends in cities I've been to a bunch of times to see friends and family like in Boston and Chicago. But I was craving a cheesesteak from Jim's on South Street so it was time to fly up to Philadelphia, Pennsylvania.

I've been to Philly a bunch of times. Truthfully, Philadelphia isn't one of my favorite cities to visit. It has its nice parts but it's kind of a dirty city, you have those annoying Flyers and Eagles fans everywhere. But the flight was cheap and did I mention I was craving a cheesesteak from Jim's on South Street? I did. Oh.

Well you don't understand. Jim's is THE measuring stick when it comes to Philly cheesesteaks. Sure we have Delco's in Dunedin. That's a really good cheesesteak... the best in the Tampa Bay area. But Jim's on South Street is where you go for the real deal. The lines are usually long. The staff isn't particularly friendly. But when you take that first bite and that Cheez Wiz hits... man it's the best.

Off to Tampa International I go... at 4AM. Ugh. If you're only doing a 48 hour trip, you've got to make each hour count right? Actually it was about 36 hours. Tampa to Philly Saturday morning and back to Tampa Sunday night.