- Southwest Airlines is adding three new destinations to its route map in 2021.
- Myrtle Beach, South Carolina; Bellingham, Washington; and Eugene, Oregon, are scheduled to see new flights.
- The routes from each airport are still unknown, but the first flights are planned to be launched in the summer.
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Southwest Airlines on Monday announced plans to serve three new destinations in the United States later this year.
The low-cost carrier will soon service Myrtle Beach, South Carolina; Bellingham, Washington; and Eugene, Oregon, in yet another expansion of the pandemic era that follows the addition of Bozeman, Montana and Destin, Florida, announced last month.
Myrtle Beach will be the first city to see new flights, with CEO Gary Kelly saying in a statement that the destination is aimed at serving summer travelers and golfers in particular. Golf bags count as one of the two complimentary bags that Southwest flyers can check out, with the airline coining “golf bags fly free” as a joke with one of its classic slogans, “bags fly free”.
The coastal city of Carolina joins Southwest’s current chain of destinations on the southeast Atlantic coast. Savannah, Georgia and Miami were added to Southwest’s network in 2020 and the addition of Myrtle Beach gives the operator coverage at almost every major airport on the Atlantic coast, from South Carolina to South Florida.
Bellingham, closer to Vancouver, Canada, than to Seattle, will have flights in the second half of 2021, as it serves an international market. Canadians often cross the border of the United States to catch flights in order to save on fees charged on international flights by the governments of the United States and Canada.
“After the reopening of the Canadian border, we expect a return from travelers concerned about the values they are already heading to this alternative airport to escape the high fares and taxes – and this is very, very typical for destinations in the southwest,” said Kelly.
The U.S. border with Canada is currently closed to non-essential travel, a pandemic-era policy that is approaching its one-year anniversary, but may reopen when Southwest starts operating. US and Canadian officials renew the policy monthly and the accelerated launch of the vaccine in the U.S. may encourage reopening negotiations.
Southwest joins companies like Washington State’s hometown airline, Alaska Airlines, and ultra-low cost carrier, Allegiant Air, to serve Bellingham.
Eugene will only be Southwest’s second destination in Beaver State, behind Portland, surrounded by national forests and a short drive from Oregon’s Pacific coast and Crater Lake National Park. Southwest will not be alone in the city, as American Airlines, United Airlines, Delta Air Lines, Alaska and Allegiant serve Eugene from cities around the United States.
Flights to Eugene are also scheduled for the second half of 2021.
The routes have not yet been announced for any of the new cities, but Southwest is likely to offer services to nearby bases offering connections across the country. For Bellingham and Eugene, this probably means flights to Denver, Dallas, Las Vegas or Phoenix, while Myrtle Beach may offer flights to Chicago, Atlanta, Baltimore or Nashville, Tennessee.
All routes will be operated by the airline’s Boeing 737 aircraft and are likely to see the Boeing 737 Max. Southwest plans to resume Max flights on March 11, the last airline in the U.S. to do so, behind only American Airlines, United Airlines and Alaska Airlines.
Two existing destinations – Steamboat Springs and Telluride, Colorado – will also have their seasonal flights extended during the summer.