Southwest Airlines adds 5 new routes and will restore 16 more that were cut

Southwest Airlines is launching five new non-stop routes as part of its latest schedule expansion, which will also see the airline restore 16 non-stop routes that have been cut.

Southwest passengers can now book flights through October 4 on select routes.

California’s Long Beach Airport (LGB) was the big winner in Thursday’s announcement, landing three new routes.

Daily non-stop service from LGB will begin July 11 to Colorado Springs, Colorado and El Paso, Texas. The third service – LGB to Albuquerque, New Mexico – begins September 5.

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They join two other new LGB routes Southwest has announced: a daily service to Kansas City and a seasonal weekend route to Orlando.

LGB is one of the nation’s few capacity-controlled airports, where airlines must obtain “empty seats” to add new flights. Southwest’s latest additions appear to be part of five additional locations the airport said in December that it would add more capacity, according to Long Beach Press-Telegram.

When Southwest’s new LGB flights begin, it will serve 22 seasonal and year-round destinations from the airport with up to 45 daily departures.

Southwest will also add two other nonstop flights to its map. Both begin September 9, when the airline will add seasonal service, serving only Saturdays between Austin and Jacksonville, Florida, and between El Paso and Orlando.

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In addition to the new flights announced in Thursday’s update, Southwest will restore 16 routes that have been cut in recent years — many of which have not been scheduled during the pandemic. Here is the full list of restored routes.

The move will restore non-stop services, including Austin–Pittsburgh, Baltimore–Oakland and Denver–Richmond, Virginia. It follows a commitment by Southwest executives late last year that service providers will begin restoring routes and frequencies as part of a broader effort to strengthen connectivity across the company’s network.

“It is part of our overall recovery effort… to meet the needs of our Customers,” Southwest spokesman Dan Landson said in a statement to TPG.

In addition, 8 seasonal routes will return to operation according to the airline’s plan. All operate on weekends only and include city pairs such as Buffalo–Sarasota, Florida; Charlotte–Denver; and Chicago Midway–Reno, Nevada.

Southwest said it will not be terminating any routes, although some seasonal routes will be suspended until a later scheduled resumption.