Above: Costa Rica

By the Caribbean Journal staff

Southwest Airlines is planning to launch its first-ever flights to Costa Rica, the carrier announced.

The company has filed an application with the US Department of Transportation in that regard, it said. The service is slated to begin March 7, 2015.

The daily roundtrip service will operate between Baltimore/Washington Thurgood Marshall International Airport and San Jose, Costa Rica’s Juan Santamaria International Airport.

“We’re ready to add the adventure and beauty of Costa Rica to a growing horizon of international possibility available to the more than 100 million Customers who fly with us each year,” said Gary Kelly, chairman, president & CEO of Southwest Airlines. “Our substantial presence in Baltimore/Washington is a natural place to do that by bringing nonstop access to new, international markets.”

Southwest launched its first-ever Caribbean service earlier this summer, with new flights to Aruba, the Bahamas, Jamaica and Cancun, and the Costa Rica service would be part of a wider expansion in the Caribbean Basin.