Southwest Airlines is expanding its portfolio of nonstop routes out of San Diego — with two new destinations, plus the revival of three others.
Beginning next June, the airline will fly nonstop to Columbus, Ohio, and Pittsburgh on Saturdays only. The new seasonal flights will be operating into August for now. Southwest has not yet extended its current schedule past Aug. 4.
Both will be a first for San Diego as no other other airline currently flies between San Diego and John Glenn Columbus and Pittsburgh international airports, said Nicole Hall, spokesperson for the San Diego International Airport.
In addition to the two new flights, Southwest is bringing back seasonal service to Indianapolis, Tampa and Milwaukee — all resuming June 8, the airline said.
Flights to Indianapolis this year had been “very on and off,” Hall said. They will be suspended starting early this month and won’t resume until June. The seasonal nonstops to Indianapolis will be on weekends only.
Southwest had last offered nonstop service to Milwaukee in 2019 and was flying regularly between Tampa and San Diego up until September 2021, Hall said. Both of those returning flights will be available only on Saturdays.
“When we extend our schedule, we look to offer nonstop options in markets with high demand,” explained Southwest spokesman Brad Hawkins. “As San Diego’s largest carrier, we’re pleased to bring these time-saving journeys for summertime travel, alongside our year-round connecting and stop/no-change service.”
News of the new Southwest routes comes as Alaska Airlines continues to beef up its presence in San Diego. While Southwest is by far San Diego’s largest airline in terms of volume of passengers and number of overall flights, Alaska serves the most destinations among all airlines operating out of San Diego. By next year, it will be up to 37.
Earlier this year, it announced that it was adding daily nonstop service to the nation’s capital via Washington Dulles International Airport, plus a second new nonstop — Eugene, Ore. And it just launched seasonal flights to Tampa. Starting Dec. 23, it will debut nonstop service to the Mexican resort destination Zihuatanejo, and next May it will start flying nonstop to Atlanta.
