Southwest Airlines is set to continue its Caribbean relaunch this summer, Caribbean Journal has learned.
The relaunch is headlined by a major increase in its Cancun service beginning June 12 that will include the return of Saturday-only service from Pittsburgh to Cancun and increases from Austin, Houston and Phoenix to Cancun.
In all, Southwest will be operating 22 departures to and from Cancun on Saturdays, from a total of 13 gateways in the United States.
Southwest is also increasing its flight service to Montego Bay, Jamaica this summer.
This summer, Southwest is also set to add more daily flights to the increasingly popular destination of Puerto Rico, which is seeing surging travel activity since the beginning of 2021.
The Puerto Rico relaunch will include expanded daily flights to San Juan out of markets including Orlando, Chicago Midway and Tampa.
The low-cost carrier is also planning its return to Costa Rica, with daily service from Houston to Liberia and San Jose, along with weekly Saturday-only service from Baltimore-Washington to Liberia.
“We’re excited to continue reestablishing previously served international service by reuniting the warm hospitality of Costa Rica with the Heart and value of Southwest,” said Andrew Watterson, Southwest Airlines’ Executive Vice President & Chief Commercial Officer.
Southwest will also be increasing flights to Los Cabos in Mexico, the company said.
Indeed, the Caribbean and Mexico (and Cancun in particular) continue to see expanded airlift amid the pandemic, with leisure demand continuing to rise amid the United States’ vaccination push.
“We’re seeing more demand for our international routes that already take our Customers to Aruba, Cancun, Cozumel, Havana, Los Cabos, Montego Bay, Puerto Vallarta, and Punta Cana,” Watterson said.
— CJ