Discount air carrier Avelo Airlines will begin direct flights this summer from Manchester airport to Raleigh-Durham, North Carolina, making it the second cut-rate airline to come to Manchester in recent years.

Avelo said the twice-weekly flights to the Research Triangle will start June 21, costing $39 one way.

Avelo was founded two years ago as a low-cost carrier, initially based at secondary airports near major markets such as Hollywood Burbank Airport near Los Angeles or the airport at Wilmington, Delaware, not far from Philadelphia. This business plan, avoiding larger airports that are more expensive for airlines to operate in, is often used by startup airlines that lure customers with low fares. The most notable example is Southwest Airlines, although Southwest has since largely shifted to major airports like Logan in Boston.

Avelo’s arrival comes a year and a half after Spirit Airlines, a much larger low-cost carrier, began flying out of Manchester-Boston Regional Airport. These arrivals are welcome at the airport, which has seen as many as half it gates stand empty for years due to consolidation in the airline industry. 

It will be the fifth airline to have regular flights out of Manchester airport.

Avelo said it would fly to the Research Triangle on Thursdays and Sundays using Boeing Next-Generation 737s. 

The flights are part of an expansion of its hub at the Research Triangle, which also will see flights to Memphis, Tenn., and Rochester, N.Y. 

For more information, check AveloAir.com.

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