As of December 2017, Southwest Airlines has scheduled flights to 100 destinations in 40 states, Puerto Rico, Mexico, Central America and the Caribbean, the newest being Providenciales, Turks and Caicos Islands on November 5, 2017. The airline has 15 focus cities and operates over 3,800 flights each day.
Video Southwest Airlines destinations
Destinations
Southwest does not use the "hub and spoke" system of other major airlines, preferring the "point-to-point" system. It has large operations in certain airports. An average of 80 percent of Southwest passengers are local passengers-- only 20 percent of all passengers are connecting passengers. This is higher than most airlines, where many passengers connect in hub cities. However, at Southwest's focus cities, the percentage of connecting passengers can reach 30 percent. Recent numbers indicate that the number of connecting passengers is steadily rising.
As part of its effort to control costs, Southwest sometimes uses secondary airports in cities with high costs. Secondary airports have lower costs and may be more convenient to travelers than major airports. Some examples include:
- Chicago, Illinois: Southwest uses Chicago Midway International Airport instead of Chicago O'Hare International Airport.
- Dallas, Texas: Southwest uses Dallas Love Field instead of Dallas/Fort Worth International Airport.
- Houston, Texas: Southwest uses William P. Hobby Airport instead of George Bush Intercontinental Airport.
- Fort Lauderdale, Florida: Southwest uses Fort Lauderdale International Airport instead of Miami International Airport.
- New York City, New York: Southwest uses New York City LaGuardia International Airport, Long Island MacArthur, and Newark Liberty International Airport airports instead of New York City John Fitzgerald Kennedy International Airport.
AirTran cities acquired by Southwest
Through Southwest's acquisition of AirTran Airways, Southwest opened a focus city in Atlanta and acquired additional slots at Washington-National and New York-LaGuardia. In addition, Southwest added service to the following destinations.
International service
Southwest began planning international service when it acquired AirTran, which already served international destinations. Southwest's first approach to international service came on April 19, 2012 when it signed a contract with the Amadeus IT Group to launch an international reservation system. This agreement gave the airline the capability to begin flying to destinations outside of the United States.
Southwest debuted the international reservation system on January 27, 2014 when its first international flights went on sale. This was followed by the first international flights which began on July 1, 2014 to Aruba (AUA), Montego Bay, Jamaica (MBJ) and Nassau, Bahamas (NAS).
Southwest built a 5 gate international terminal at William P. Hobby Airport that opened in 2015. Southwest also built a 5 gate international terminal in Fort Lauderdale that opened in 2017.
Southwest announced they would add service to Hawaii on October 11, 2017, with service beginning in 2018, pending government approval. The flights will primarily be operated out of their focus cities in California utilizing their Boeing 737-800 and 737 MAX 8 aircraft.
Chart
As of December 2017, this is a list of destinations that Southwest Airlines serves.
Maps Southwest Airlines destinations
References
External links
- Southwest Airlines Route Map
Source of article : Wikipedia
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