ALBANY, N.Y. (WRGB) — Avelo Airlines is set to end its participation in the Department of Homeland Security’s charter program by the end of January, following eight months of involvement in Project Homecoming, a voluntary deportation flight initiative. The decision comes amid nationwide backlash, including in the Capital Region, against alleged deportation flights. Additionally, Avelo will cease flights from Albany International Airport to Raleigh, N.C., by January 26.
New York State Sen. Pat Fahy, who celebrated the decision alongside Assemblymember Gabriella Romero, spoke Thursday. Fahy and Romero have championed the Safe Air Act, which aims to prevent state agencies from assisting airlines involved in deportation flights.
“We spend, I think it’s $150 million a year in fuel tax exemptions, airline fuel tax exemptions. They were going to lose that exemption,” Fahy said…