Southwest expands Atlanta schedules with Nonstops to Las Vegas and Phoenix

by: Siva Vayali - September 6th, 2011   Filed under: Airlines, Airports 2 Comments

Southwest is slowly building momentum in Atlanta. This was evident with yesterday’s announcement of nonstop flights to two of its important airports missed in the initial bank of Nonstops from Atlanta: Las Vegas and Phoenix. AirTran already flies to these cities.

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When Southwest announced its initial schedule for Atlanta, the omission of Las Vegas and Phoenix was a bit of a surprise. But, everyone expected that these cities will be included in the next round of expansion. Las Vegas is still the biggest airport in Southwest’s system in terms of number of destinations (shared by Chicago Midway, which is the biggest in terms of number of departures). Phoenix is number three in term of destinations and four in terms of departures (BWI being number three). So, it is not really a surprise from the route selection perspective. The new services start on March 10, 2012.

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Southwest announces Atlanta flights

by: Siva Vayali - August 30th, 2011   Filed under: Airlines, Airports Add Comment

Southwest has announced its initial schedule of fifteen daily departures from Atlanta. As expected, Southwest’s hubs in Baltimore/Washington (BWI), Chicago Midway (MDW) and Houston Hobby (HOU) will get the first set of flights. Austin (AUS) and Denver (DEN) are the other two airports to get flights from Atlanta. Fare will start from $79 to $99 each way. The services start from February 12, 2011. This is the first round of flights announced by Southwest for its entry into Atlanta. I guess, Dallas Love Field (DAL) was not included because of the Wright Amendment restrictions (Love Field will get a one stop, single plane service from Atlanta).

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AirTran already flies from Atlanta to all these airports except Austin. So, expect some good competition at Atlanta once Southwest and AirTran fully combine their routes. It is good news for customers flying to Atlanta, the airport dominated by Delta. It will be interesting to see what would be the next round of expansion cities from Atlanta. And Delta’s response too!

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