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Dallas Gets a 3rd Airport With $99 Nomad-Friendly Fares

The Dallas-Fort Worth region is adding its third commercial airport this fall. McKinney National Airport (DTX), located in Collin County roughly 30 miles north of both DFW International and Dallas Love Field, is set to open its brand-new passenger terminal on November 11, 2026, with Avelo Airlines launching nonstop service to five destinations the same day.

Avelo, an ultra-low-cost carrier, will base two Boeing 737-800 jets at DTX and operate routes to Las Vegas, Fort Lauderdale, Fort Myers, Orlando, and Tampa. Introductory one-way fares start at $99, and bookings made through July include the first checked bag free, according to a press release from Avelo Airlines.

Context

The new terminal spans 46,000 square feet with four gates at opening, expandable to six. The airport projects initial annual capacity at 200,000 passengers, with a potential ceiling of one million as traffic grows, as reported by The Points Guy. The airline will also create more than 100 local jobs — pilots, flight attendants, aircraft technicians, and airport staff — as part of its McKinney base operation.

Avelo Founder and CEO Andrew Levy called the carrier's role there a defining moment, saying the airline "was built for moments like this." McKinney Mayor Bill Cox welcomed the announcement, saying the city "welcomes Avelo Airlines and the exciting new nonstop service it will provide from McKinney National Airport." Airport Director Ken Carley described the November opening as a milestone that has been in the works since 2019.

The frequency spread is thin but functional for someone making a monthly run: Las Vegas gets four weekly roundtrips, Orlando and Fort Lauderdale each get five, Tampa gets four, and Fort Myers gets two. All five markets are leisure-heavy sun-belt destinations — a practical fit for remote workers who want a long weekend trip without crossing the entire metroplex.

What this means for remote workers and nomads

For location-flexible workers considering Dallas as a home base, DTX adds a meaningful option on top of the existing DFW and Love Field choices. The practical advantage is friction reduction: if you live or stay in the northern suburbs — Frisco, Allen, Plano, or McKinney itself — you shave 30-plus miles off each DFW airport run. For nomads rotating in and out of the metro monthly, that translates to time and rideshare cost savings that compound quickly.

The route map is deliberately leisure-focused, which aligns well with a remote lifestyle that blends work and travel. Las Vegas and the Florida corridor are among the most popular domestic short-stays for remote workers precisely because they offer reliable warm-weather co-working environments and short flight times. Avelo's bare-bones pricing keeps the marginal cost of those trips low enough to budget alongside a Dallas lease or co-living arrangement.

The broader context matters too. Texas has no state income tax, and the northern Dallas suburbs have seen sustained growth in both population and infrastructure. A new, less crowded airport designed for quick throughput is a genuine quality-of-life differentiator — not just a novelty. If you have been weighing Dallas against other Sun Belt hubs for your next semi-permanent base, reviewing how the digital nomad starter kit intersects with a lower-cost gateway like DTX is worth factoring into that decision now, before Thanksgiving crowds arrive to test the new terminal's capacity.