On Nov. 11, 2026, Avelo Airlines plans to fly its first passengers from McKinney National Airport to Fort Myers. They will leave from a terminal much smaller than the one McKinney voters were asked to pay for three years ago. The 2023 plan called for a 144,000-square-foot building with room to grow to 16 gates. The building that opens on Veterans Day has 46,000 square feet and four gates.
Officials, contractors and the airline now point to that smaller footprint as the main reason to fly from DTX. In their account, the trip from the parking lot to the plane is short because the building is small. Anyone in McKinney who has spent an hour driving to a DFW-area hub and walking its terminals can see why that pitch might work.
The airport that lost at the ballot box
On May 6, 2023, McKinney voters rejected a $200 million bond for the airport. The unofficial results were 12,822 votes against, or 58.69%, and 9,024 votes in favor, or 41.31%. The bond was tied to a concept estimated at about $300 million. Here is how that plan compares with what opens in November, using the city's figures from 2023 and 2026:
- Terminal size: 144,000 square feet planned in 2023. 46,000 square feet now.
- Gates: four at opening in both plans. The 2023 concept could expand to 16 gates. The current building is designed for a fifth and sixth gate.
- Parking: 2,000 spaces in the 2023 concept. 980 public spaces now.
- Cost: about $300 million for the 2023 concept. $79 million for the current terminal and related infrastructure.
Both plans open with four gates. Most of the cut came from building size, parking and cost, while the number of gates on day one stayed the same.
How the city built it without the bond
After the election, the city found other ways to pay. Community Impact pieced together this timeline from city records:
- February 2024: city leaders gave direction to look for other funding sources.
- May 2024: the McKinney Economic Development Corporation and the McKinney Community Development Corporation committed money for planning and design.
- December 2024: land on the east side of the airport was rezoned.
- January 2025: the site plan was approved.
- March 2025: MEDC and MCDC committed a total of $52.4 million.
- July 2025: construction began.
The full funding package includes MCDC and MEDC grants, city utility-construction funds, Tax Increment Reinvestment Zone No. 2, a TxDOT grant, and interim financing to cover costs until federal low-interest loans come through. In May 2025, City Council approved a $58 million guaranteed-maximum-price contract with Swinerton to build the terminal and a $2.8 million design contract with Garver. The airport's official page lists Corgan as the terminal architect.
In January 2025, the project was estimated at $72 million with 1,500 parking spaces. The latest figures are $79 million and 980 spaces, so the plan kept changing after the vote as well.
What a smaller terminal means at the curb
The smaller building shows up as specific differences from a large hub. Several of them came up during a WFAA hard-hat tour of the terminal:
- Parking to plane: WFAA reported that only a few hundred feet separate the parking lot from the aircraft. A Garver aviation leader said the walk from car to check-in is "probably the shortest distance you'll see anywhere."
- Boarding: there are no jet bridges. Passengers walk to and from the plane on covered outdoor ramps.
- Bags: checked bags slide down a chute instead of arriving on a carousel. Officials told WFAA this design saves money.
- Waiting area: the hold room seats up to 750 passengers and looks straight out at the planes parked on the apron. The terminal also has a café with grab-and-go food and a full-service bar.
- Parking cost: 980 public spaces at $15 a day, paid through a contactless system. Enterprise will run the rental-car counter, and two murals by Texas artists are planned for the curbside and baggage-claim areas.
At the Sept. 24 press event, Avelo founder and CEO Andrew Levy described the appeal this way:
"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 to go to wherever it is you want to go."
As of late September, some details were still open. Officials were still finalizing the food, beverage and retail vendors, and no concession operator has been named. If you're flying in the first few weeks, check FlyDTX.com for dining and ground-transportation details before you leave the house.
Where it flies, and on which days
Avelo is starting with five routes and adding four more before the end of the year:
- Fort Myers (RSW): starts Wednesday, Nov. 11
- Las Vegas (LAS) and Orlando (MCO): start Thursday, Nov. 12
- Tampa (TPA) and Fort Lauderdale (FLL): start Thursday, Nov. 19
- Atlanta (ATL) and Denver (DEN): start Wednesday, Dec. 16, four times a week
- Nashville (BNA) and New Orleans (MSY): start Thursday, Dec. 17, on Thursdays and Sundays
According to the city's release, Avelo will base three 184-seat Boeing 737-800s at DTX and fly Wednesday through Monday. That means no Tuesday departures. The city and Avelo list Denver flights on Mondays, Wednesdays, Fridays and Saturdays. Community Impact reported Mondays, Wednesdays, Fridays and Sundays. If you're planning a weekend in Denver, check the day on the booking page before you build plans around it. When the new routes were announced on Sept. 24, one-way fares started at $99.
The airport's three-letter code is DTX. It appears on booking sites, boarding passes and bag tags, so search for DTX rather than the airport's older code.
Getting there from across town
The terminal is at 1910 FM 546 on the east side of the airport. Cars enter through a new roundabout on FM 546 and a loop road around the terminal. The roundabout and Taxiway C were part of a $17.7 million Sinacola contract. In December 2025, that work was expected to finish in October 2026. As of the Sept. 24 event, crews were still working on Taxiway C.
Drivers from west McKinney will likely pass through construction on the way. TxDOT reported lane shifts at the Spur 399 and SH 5 interchange in June 2026, and the overall Spur 399/SH 5 project isn't expected to finish until late 2029. If you're catching an early flight in November, allow time for that work zone.
Some neighbors have raised concerns about traffic. When construction started in 2025, a McKinney resident told Community Impact that planes overhead were already common and said they were worried about more cars and road noise, including on Airport Drive. The airport director answered that commercial service would not change the airport's community impacts.
For guests flying in, a new place to stay is opening on the other side of town at about the same time. The AC Hotel McKinney at 7600 SH 121 plans to open in mid-November, with Good & Proper Wood Fired Bistro on its fifth floor. Reservations are open for stays starting Nov. 15.
The first real test is Thanksgiving
By Nov. 19, all five starting routes are scheduled to be flying, a week before Thanksgiving. Airport Director Ken Carley has pointed to that timing. He said people in North Texas appreciate "how easy it will be to travel from their hometown airport during the upcoming holidays and beyond." Family flying in that week will land the same weekend as Home for the Holidays on the downtown square, Nov. 27 through 29. The community tree lighting is Friday, Nov. 27, at 6:15 p.m.
The city expects the terminal to handle 200,000 passengers in its first year. Carley says the building is designed for up to 1 million passengers a year. That leaves plenty of room to grow, so the short walk from parking to the plane should hold up even when the building is busier.
The new airport could change how McKinney homeowners and visiting buyers get around. If you're wondering how DTX might affect your neighborhood or your next move, the team at Bray Real Estate Group follows these changes across Collin County. Start with a free home valuation and a conversation about what's changing near you.
