McKinney's New Airport Opens Nov. 11 on a Long-Weekend Schedule

The new passenger terminal at McKinney National Airport opens to travelers on Nov. 11, 2026, Veterans Day, with Avelo Airlines as its only carrier. Nine nonstop destinations are announced through mid-December. None of them flies daily, and not one Avelo flight leaves McKinney on a Tuesday. Avelo operates at DTX Wednesday through Monday, and most of the November flights fall between Thursday and Monday.

That schedule is the most useful thing to understand about DTX. It shapes which trips work from McKinney and which ones still mean a drive to DFW or Love Field.

The Week Has a Gap in the Middle

Here is the opening schedule by day, built from Avelo's June 30 route announcement and its Sept. 24 expansion.

Count the November routes by day and a pattern shows up. Monday, Thursday, Friday and Sunday each have four of the five routes operating. Saturday has three. Wednesday has only Fort Myers, and Tuesday has nothing. Atlanta and Denver add some Wednesday service in December, but the midweek gap stays.

For Denver, one note. Community Impact's Sept. 24 story lists the fourth weekly flight on Sundays, while Avelo's own release says Saturdays. The airline's release is the schedule of record, and the booking page will settle it for any specific date.

The pattern makes sense for the airline. Avelo describes its model as flying from smaller, less crowded airports in large metro areas, with low fares on nonstop routes. Four of the first five destinations are in Florida and the fifth is Las Vegas. It's a leisure network, and its days are set for leaving Thursday or Friday and coming back Sunday or Monday.

Thanksgiving Week Is the First Real Test

The calendar lines up neatly for the first holiday. Thanksgiving falls on Thursday, Nov. 26. By then all five November routes will be flying, and every one except Fort Myers operates on Thursday, Friday and Sunday. A Thursday departure to Orlando, Las Vegas, Tampa or Fort Lauderdale with a Sunday return fits the schedule without any juggling.

For anyone staying in town, the day after Thanksgiving is Home for the Holidays on the Historic Downtown McKinney Square, 111 N. Tennessee St., listed for Nov. 27 from 10:30 a.m. to 9 p.m. Visitors flying in for the holiday on a Thursday arrival from Florida or Las Vegas can make it to the Square the next morning without a drive in from Grapevine or Love Field.

The December routes start Dec. 16 and 17, in time for travel the week before Christmas. Nashville and New Orleans fly only Thursdays and Sundays, which suits a three-night weekend and not much else. Atlanta and Denver fly four times a week, which gives more choice, but there's still no Tuesday or Thursday flight on either route.

The Logistics of a DTX Trip Day

The City of McKinney and Visit McKinney give the terminal address as 1910 FM 546, McKinney, TX 75069, reachable from US 380 and US 75. Avelo's DTX page lists 1508 Industrial Blvd instead. For GPS, the city's FM 546 address points to the new terminal.

Here is what the airport and airline have published so far for the day of travel:

1. Parking. The public lot has 980 spaces at a $15 daily rate, paid through a contactless system, according to airport director Ken Carley at the Sept. 24 press conference. A Thursday-to-Sunday trip comes to $60 in parking, counting four calendar days.
2. Arrival time. Avelo recommends arriving at least 90 minutes before departure. Its ticket counters open about two hours before a flight and close 40 minutes before takeoff.
3. Rental cars. Enterprise will run the on-site rental car service.
4. Booking. Flights show up under the code DTX on airline sites, boarding passes and bag tags. Searching "McKinney" alone may not bring them up.

Some details haven't been published yet. TSA checkpoint details, PreCheck availability and rideshare pickup zones don't appear in the airport or airline materials released so far. Food is unsettled as well. McKinney City Council's Oct. 5 agenda included a proposed concessions and lease agreement with Creative Hospitality Solutions, LLC, and the airport's food and beverage space is planned past security. No restaurant brands or menus have been named. Until vendors are announced, it makes sense to eat before leaving home. FlyDTX.com is the airport's own site for updates as opening day gets closer.

The Fare Is Only Part of the Price

Avelo's headline fare is $99 one way. The Sept. 24 offer requires booking by Oct. 12 for specific travel windows, and it includes the first checked bag free on DTX bookings made by that deadline, for travel completed by Jan. 31, 2027. As of today, Oct. 7, that leaves five days.

After the promotion, Avelo's standard model applies. One personal item that fits under the seat is free. Carry-on bags run $52 to $75 and checked bags $47 to $75, per person and per direction, with the price depending on when you buy. For a family of four each bringing a carry-on on a round trip, that's eight bag charges, or $416 to $600 on top of the fares. The cheapest price is usually the one paid at booking.

Two policies help families in particular. Children 14 and under are automatically seated with an accompanying adult at no extra cost. Avelo PLUS members get discounted fares and priority boarding, and those perks extend to up to nine other people on the same itinerary. Booking or changing a trip through Avelo's customer support center costs $25 per seated traveler.

A Terminal Built for Five Times Its First Year

The current schedule is unlikely to be the long-term one, because the building is much larger than the opening service. The 46,000-square-foot terminal is expected to handle 200,000 passengers in its first year, but Carley said it's designed for up to 1 million a year. It opens with four gates and has room for a fifth and sixth. Crews are still building Taxiway C to connect the terminal ramp to the runway, which was recently extended to 8,002 feet.

The airline has already grown its plans once. In June, Avelo announced five routes and two aircraft based at DTX. By Sept. 24, before its first McKinney flight, it had added four destinations and a third 184-seat Boeing 737-800. CEO Andrew Levy put it this way in the city's release:

"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."

The terminal was paid for without the bond residents voted on. McKinney voters rejected a $200 million general obligation bond proposition for the terminal in 2023, and the city then pursued other funding instead of property-tax-backed bonds, according to the airport's FAQ on FlyDTX.com. The terminal and related infrastructure now total $79 million, up from a $72 million estimate in January 2025, and the project is set to open about 18 months after groundbreaking. Each route Avelo adds goes into a building that already has the capacity for it.

For this holiday season, the schedule in the table above is what's on offer: nine destinations, mostly Thursday through Monday, $15 a day to park, and a 90-minute arrival window at a terminal reachable from US 380 and US 75.

If you're thinking about how DTX could change a rental's guest market or your own weekend trips, HXC Real Estate follows McKinney's growth closely. Message Harman on WhatsApp to talk it through.