Southwest to Add Flights at Long Beach Airport

By Howard Fine
Thursday, December 10, 2020
Southwest adds 17 slots at Long Beach Airport.

Southwest adds 17 slots at Long Beach Airport. Photo by Stephen M. Keller

Southwest Airlines announced Dec. 10 it will start five new flights at Long Beach Airport in March, marking the carrier's biggest new flight announcement since it won additional slots at the airport in September.

Four of the flights are new destinations - to Houston’s Hobby Airport, Chicago’s Midway Airport, Dallas’ Love Field and St. Louis’ Lambert-St. Louis International Airport. The fifth flight, to Reno-Tahoe International Airport, was previously scheduled to begin this month but was pushed back due to the Covid-19 pandemic.

Last month, the Dallas-based carrier announced the launch of a flight between Long Beach and Honolulu, also starting next March.

The Houston and Chicago flights will start with one daily flight then increase to two flights daily in April, according to the announcement.

Tickets for these flights went on sale the same day as the Dec. 10 announcement.

In September, Southwest was awarded 17 additional flight slots at Long Beach Airport; those slots were relinquished by JetBlue Airways, which in October ended all service at Long Beach and shifted its West Coast focal airport to LAX.

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