Following a week of big announcements by U.S. airlines, Southwest Airlines made a major move by announcing the resumption of 52 routes and the launch of six new routes for the upcoming 2022 summer season.
The company is looking at capturing increased demand to leisure and ecotourism destinations by adding a direct connection between Austin (AUS) and Cozumel (CZM) in Mexico; Nashville (BNA) and Portland, Maine (PWM), and Denver (DEN) – Eugene, Oregon (EUG); all three links will begin on June 11, 2022, operating every Saturday. In addition, by April 25, 2022, they will add San Antonio (SAT) – Oklahoma City (OKC) to their network with four weekly flights; Austin (AUS) – Tulsa (TUL) operating every day and Syracuse (SYR) – Tampa (TPA) on Saturdays.
On June 5, 2022, Southwest Airlines will resume seven routes on a permanent basis, while the remaining 28 connections will be operated on a temporary basis beginning June 5 and 11.
After over two years, the company returns to connect Chicago (Midway) and Montego Bay (MBJ), Jamaica (daily) on a permanent basis. Also noteworthy is the seasonal return of flights between Orlando (MCO) and Aruba (AUA) (daily); Austin (AUS) – Puerto Vallarta (PVR); Milwaukee (MKE) – Cancun (CUN); Denver (DEN) – Cozumel (CZM) and Baltimore/Washington (BWI) – Grand Cayman (GCM), Cayman Islands.
As of June 5, 2022, the airline will increase frequencies to one daily flight on routes already served between Austin and Cabo San Lucas/Los Cabos and between San Antonio and Cancun, Mexico.
The return of several destinations from Denver, the home base of United Airlines and Frontier Airlines, stands out in the domestic market. Most of the flights have a weekly flight (Saturdays), thus allowing travelers to stay longer on their vacations. These destinations are focused on the V.F.R. movement, with Tampa and Myrtle Beach being the most popular beach and sun options.
Based on information obtained by Aviacionline through Cirium, the company has currently recovered 84.8% of its flights. By 2022 it plans to add 114 Boeing 737 MAX aircraft to its fleet, including the Boeing 737-7 variant, of which 70 will be replacing its older Boeing 737-700s and -800s.
