Southwest Airlines is planning to relaunch a number of routes as the Caribbean begins opening up once again for tourism, the carrier said.
While the launches are dependent on each individual destination’s reopening plans, Southwest Airlines said it would be resuming service to destinations in both Mexico and the Caribbean.
For now, Southwest plans to resume service to Havana, Cuba; Montego Bay, Jamaica; and Nassau, The Bahamas beginning July 1.
It should be noted that those Caribbean destinations have not yet officially announced when they will be reopening their borders.
In Mexico, Southwest also plans to resume service to Cancun, along with flights to San Jose del Cabo/Los Cabos.
“Southwest continues to monitor conditions in 14 international destinations on the carrier’s network map and update operational plans,” the company said in a statement.
The flights are available for purchase on the company’s Web site, Southwest said in a statement.
It will not be a complete relaunch however — routes will be limited, however, according to an analysis by Caribbean Journal.
For example, Southwest will be operating flights from Baltimore-Washington to Montego Bay, and Nassau — not from its growing Caribbean-focused hub in Fort Lauderdale.
Havana flights will be operated out of Tampa, Fla.
The move comes as other carriers have begun to resume service to the Caribbean, most notably Delta Air Lines, which is set to resume a wave of routes to the Caribbean in June.
So far, the only Caribbean destinations that officially plan to reopen are the United States Virgin Islands, which is planning to open June 1; Saint Lucia, which has announced a June 4 reopening; and Aruba, which has announced plans to reopen sometime in the second half of June.
For more, visit Southwest.
— CJ