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!