While most travelers associate airports with major airline hubs like JFK or London Heathrow, a much larger number of smaller airports do not serve a single commercial passenger.
Across the U.S., there are approximately 550 passenger airports and over 5,000 reserved for general aviation. The term is used to refer to any flying that is not commercial or military — from ambulance flights and agricultural crop dusting to pilot training and recreational flying.
While many large airports serve a combination of commercial and general, it is not uncommon for smaller regional ones to be equipped exclusively for non-commercial flights. After its last commercial flights were phased out due to low demand in 1997, Natchez-Adams County Airport (HEZ) in southwestern Mississippi will get its first passenger flight to Houston operated by Sky West for United Express in July 2026.
Avelo Airlines will be first airline to fly out of McKinney National in Texas
The airport is now in the process of getting equipped with TSA facilities to serve these changed needs.
Another airport that was opened in the 1970s but had previously not run any commercial flights is McKinney National Airport (TKI) north of downtown Dallas. As the much larger Dallas-Fort Worth (DFW) hub is just a 30-mile drive away, McKinney was initially established as a reliever airport in cases of overflow but eventually evolved into its own hub for local business and private jets as well as flight training.
Related: This tiny airport will soon get its first commercial flight in 30 years
With a new terminal for passengers under construction to open in 2026, local McKinney officials just finalized an Airline Use and Lease Agreement (ULA) for Avelo Airlines to be its first airline partner.
The five-year agreement will give the Houston-based airline access to the new gates and runways and make it the first passenger carrier to fly out of the airport.
Avelo Airlines serves many smaller cities while also running deportation flights for ICE.
Image source: Shutterstock
Avelo previously defended running flights for ICE: “Too valuable not to pursue”
“This project is gaining momentum, and it’s exciting to see the city’s long-term planning turn into visible progress towards delivering a commercial terminal that will strengthen our economy and increase connectivity and convenience for our residents,” McKinney Mayor Bill Cox said in a statement to local outlets.
Founded in 2021 and building out a base flying to many smaller cities underserved by mainstream airlines, Avelo Airlines has recently run into controversy over the choice to keep running deportation flights for the Trump administration and the Immigrations and Customs Enforcement (ICE) agency.
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In April 2025, Avelo founder and CEO Andrew Levy called these flights “controversial [but …] too valuable not to pursue.” As a result, the airline has faced protests in states including Arizona, Oregon, New York, Washington, Connecticut, and North Carolina throughout the summer and fall.
With regards to the McKinney opening, Levy celebrated it by saying Avelo is “excited to be the launch airline at TKI” and is confident that McKinney locals “will enthusiastically embrace” its presence at the airport.
The contract also grants Avelo airport office and administrative spaces, as well as check-in counters and gates that it will eventually share with other airlines.
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