Jackson, Mississippi is the airline's latest destination with cities in Florida, Arizona, California also getting new international and domestic routes.Ī start date for operations at Houston's George Bush Intercontinental has also been scheduled for April 12, 2021, at which point Southwest will fly to both of Houston's airports. Two existing destinations - Steamboat Springs and Telluride in Colorado - will also have their seasonal flights extended through the summer.Southwest Airlines is continuing to chart new routes for 2021 as the impending authorizations of multiple COVID-19 vaccines are poised to jumpstart the travel industry's rebound in the new year.Ĭities across the US are getting new routes with Southwest launching an additional 19 beginning in March 2021. Southwest plans to resume flying the Max on March 11, the last airline in the US to do so behind American Airlines, United Airlines, and Alaska Airlines.

For Bellingham and Eugene, that likely means flights to Denver, Dallas, Las Vegas, or Phoenix while Myrtle Beach might see service to Chicago, Atlanta, Baltimore, or Nashville, Tennessee.Īll routes will be flown by the airline's Boeing 737 aircraft and will likely see the Boeing 737 Max. Routes have not yet been announced to any of the new cities but Southwest will likely offer service to nearby bases that offer connections across the country. Southwest won't be alone in the city as American Airlines, United Airlines, Delta Air Lines, Alaska, and Allegiant serve Eugene from cities around the US.įlights to Eugene are also slated for the second half of 2021. Southwest joins the likes of Washington state's hometown airline Alaska Airlines and ultra-low-cost carrier Allegiant Air in serving Bellingham.Įugene will only be Southwest's second destination in the Beaver State behind Portland, surrounded by national forests and within driving distance from Oregon's Pacific coast and Crater Lake National Park. US and Canadian officials renew the policy on a monthly basis and the accelerated vaccine rollout in the US may encourage reopening talks. The US-Canada border is currently closed for non-essential travel, a pandemic-era policy nearing its one-year anniversary, but it may be reopened by the time Southwest starts service. 'Following the reopening of the Canadian border, we expect a return of the value-minded travelers who already drive to this alternative airport to escape high fares and taxes-and that's very, very typical for Southwest destinations,' Kelly said. Canadians frequently drive across the US border to catch flights to save on the taxes levied on international flights by the US and Canadian governments. Savannah, Georgia and Miami were was added to Southwest's network in 2020 and the Myrtle Beach addition gives the carrier coverage at nearly every major airport on the Atlantic coast from South Carolina to south Florida.īellingham, closer to Vancouver, Canada than Seattle, will then see flight in the second half of 2021 as it serves a cross-border market. The coastal Carolinian city adds to Southwest's existing chain of destinations on the southeast Atlantic shoreline. Golf bags count as one of the two complimentary bags that Southwest flyers can check, with the airline coining 'golf bags fly free' as a play on one of its classic slogans, 'bags fly free.' Myrtle Beach will be the first city to see new flights, with CEO Gary Kelly saying in a statement that the destination aims to serve summer travelers and golfers, in particular.

Southwest airlines destinations