McKinney's New Airport Runs on a Weekly Calendar. Plan Your Trips Around the Days

On Veterans Day, Wednesday, Nov. 11, 2026, a 46,000-square-foot terminal at 1910 FM 546 opens to the traveling public. The first scheduled departure from McKinney National Airport is an Avelo Airlines flight to Fort Myers. Six weeks before opening, at a Sept. 24 walkthrough, the FAA's Southwest Region airports director Ignacio Flores handed airport director Ken Carley the Airport Operating Certificate. That was the federal sign-off for commercial service.

Avelo will base three 184-seat Boeing 737-800s here and fly them Wednesday through Monday. Each of the nine routes runs only on certain days of the week. DFW gives you a destination and a choice of times. DTX gives you a weekly calendar, so you start planning with the day.

Nine Routes, Each on Its Own Days

The dates and service days below come from Avelo's launch announcements and the City of McKinney's Sept. 24 release.

Monday, Thursday, Friday and Sunday each have six routes. Saturday has five. Wednesday has three: Fort Myers, Atlanta and Denver. Tuesday has none. One reported schedule lists Sunday instead of Saturday for Denver. Both the City and Avelo list Saturday, and that's the version in the table.

The Trips That Fit the Grid

The service days lead to a few clear patterns. The published schedules list service days by route. They don't spell out departure and return times, so check the specific flights at AveloAir.com before you build anything around them.

Thursday-to-Sunday cities. Nashville and New Orleans fly only on Thursdays and Sundays. That matches a four-day weekend almost exactly, and it rules out a quick Saturday overnight. Both start the week before Christmas, on Dec. 17.

Friday-to-Monday cities. Atlanta and Denver both fly Mondays, Wednesdays, Fridays and Saturdays, beginning Dec. 16. A Friday departure with a Monday return fits that pattern. So does a midweek Wednesday start.

The Florida flexibility gap. Orlando and Fort Lauderdale have the widest calendars on the board, with five days each. Tampa runs four. Fort Myers is the outlier at Wednesdays and Saturdays only, so a Fort Myers trip is set up as a full week, Saturday to Saturday, or a Wednesday-to-Saturday stretch.

Las Vegas. Thursday and Friday departures pair with Sunday and Monday, which covers the standard long weekend. There's no Saturday service.

Tuesday. Any trip that has to start or end on a Tuesday still goes through DFW or Love Field.

Holiday timing is tight, too. The full Florida-and-Vegas lineup is flying by Nov. 19, a week before Thanksgiving. The four December additions start Dec. 16 and 17, just ahead of the winter break.

Why the Schedule Looks This Way

The structure follows from the business model. Three based aircraft can only cover so many departures. Avelo added the third plane at the same time it announced the four December cities. "Adding four new destinations and a third based aircraft before we have even flown our first flight from McKinney says everything about our commitment here," Avelo founder and CEO Andrew Levy said in the City of McKinney's Sept. 24 release.

At the press conference, Levy described the trade-off he's betting on. Community Impact reported that he called the DTX experience "faster, it's easier and it's just simply better in terms of when you're on the ground to get on the plane."

In other words, McKinney travelers give up frequency and get a short trip from curb to gate. The terminal's size reflects the same trade.

Inside a Four-Gate Terminal

The terminal and its supporting infrastructure cost $79 million, and opening is set for roughly 18 months after groundbreaking. Community Impact reported the figures from Carley's Sept. 24 remarks:

• Gates. Four at opening, with room for a fifth and sixth "as airline service and passenger demand grows."
• Capacity. About 200,000 passengers are expected in the first year, and the building is designed to handle up to 1 million a year.
• Parking. 980 public spaces at $15 a day, paid through a contactless system.
• Rental cars. Enterprise, on site.
• Runway. Recently extended to 8,002 feet. Taxiway C, which connects the terminal ramp to that runway, was still under construction at the Sept. 24 update.

Food and drink were settled on Oct. 5, when McKinney City Council approved a concession agreement with Creative Hospitality Solutions. The council's agenda materials describe the planned offering:

• Coffee from North Texas-roasted Armor Coffee Company
• A "McKinney Made" shelf stocked with local goods
• A self-service "Mobile Market" for grab-and-go items
• Bakery items, sandwiches, salads and hot food
• A limited-service bar, with beer and wine depending on TABC licensing and City approval

The airport's arts plan includes two murals by Texas-based artists, one at the curbside area and one in baggage claim. City agenda materials from August set the theme as "Heritage Modern," highlighting the McKinney area. As of mid-October, the artists hadn't been publicly named.

What Hasn't Been Announced

A month before opening, official and local sources still haven't published several things a first-time DTX traveler would want to know:

• Whether TSA PreCheck will be available at opening
• A recommended arrival time before departure
• Rideshare pickup locations and the curbside drop-off layout
• Any public ribbon-cutting, open house or community preview

The only preview so far was the Sept. 24 guided walkthrough for Avelo leadership, community members and local media. Check FlyDTX.com for updates as Nov. 11 gets closer. When you book, use the code DTX. It's the code on boarding passes, bag tags and itineraries. Older pages and bookmarks may still show TKI.

Getting There, Now and Later

The terminal's vehicle entrance is a new roundabout on FM 546, built along with Taxiway C. The bigger road work nearby will take longer. TxDOT's Spur 399/SH 5 project covers nearly two miles of highway, including improvements to the SH 5 interchange, with completion estimated for late 2029. Collin County's roadway project list shows FM 546 Phase I, from CR 393 to US 380, at 95% design with a tentative winter 2026 start. Expect the first season of flights to overlap with active construction on approach routes.

The neighboring communities to the south haven't all welcomed the expansion. In September 2025, Local Profile reported that Fairview had formed a citizen-led task force to study environmental, property-value and quality-of-life effects. Earlier, during the run-up to McKinney's 2023 airport bond vote, WFAA reported that the mayors of Fairview and Lucas had been taking calls from residents worried about noise and traffic. Those concerns predate any commercial flight. Local Profile's account of the noise studies covers preliminary 2023 projections, not measurements, and real data will only come once regular service begins.

The Jobs Side of the Calendar

The weekly schedule also brings jobs based in McKinney. Community Impact reports that with the third aircraft, Avelo's local hiring totals about 150 positions, including pilots, flight attendants, aircraft technicians and airport staff. The airport's arrival is part of a wider industrial push on the city's east side. Community Impact reported in August that CapRock Partners' McKinney Air Business Park, slated for completion in 2027, was drawn partly by its location next to the airport as the passenger terminal prepared to open.

For now, the practical takeaway is short. The first DTX flight leaves on a Wednesday, Nashville and New Orleans stick to Thursdays and Sundays, and nothing flies on Tuesday.

A new airport changes how a city's east side works, and buyers are already asking us about it. If you own a home in McKinney and want to know how this fall's changes fit into what your home is worth, Mark Bradford Group can walk you through the numbers. Request a Free Home Valuation and we'll start with your street.