Southwest unveils 2 new seasonal routes in latest schedule extension

Southwest Airlines unveiled two new nonstop routes this week as it extended its booking schedule into November.

Both of the additions come in Tennessee, where Southwest will begin a nonstop route from Memphis to Las Vegas and another from Nashville to Richmond, Virginia.

Each of the routes will be seasonal, operating with less-than-daily service. The full details are below.

Memphis-Las Vegas

• Flights begin Oct. 3, with one daily round-trip flight each Thursday, Friday, Saturday, Sunday and Monday.

Nashville-Richmond

• Flights begin Oct. 6, with one round-trip flight operating only on Sundays.

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Another new line on Southwest’s route map will connect Phoenix and Houston. Those daily flights will begin Oct. 3, though the service to Houston’s George Bush Intercontinental Airport (IAH) technically marks the resumption of a route Southwest last flew in October 2023.

The additions come as Southwest extended its flight booking schedule through Nov. 2. While most big U.S. airlines publish schedules about 11 months in advance, Southwest’s booking schedule goes about seven months. The carrier extends that window several times throughout the year.

Southwest’s schedule extensions typically include new routes — and sometimes the end of others — making it an anticipated announcement among industry observers.

However, the latest announcement — two seasonal less-than-daily routes and the resumption — made for an unusually quiet update from the carrier. In October, for example, Southwest unveiled a whopping 30 new routes during a previous schedule extension.

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Still, the schedule updates often mark the return of many seasonal routes that are coming back online for the fall and winter schedules. Twenty-seven such routes were included this time around, featuring the return of weekend-only service on routes like Atlanta-Cancun; Phoenix-Cincinnati; Kansas City-Las Cabos, Mexico; Orlando-Grand Rapids, Michigan. A full list of the 27 routes where seasonal service is resuming is below.

• Albuquerque-Orlando: Resumes Oct. 5 (Saturdays and Sundays)
• Atlanta-Cancun: Resumes Oct. 5 (Saturdays only)
• Austin-Los Cabos: Resumes Oct. 5 (Saturdays and Sundays)
• Buffalo-Sarasota, Florida: Resumes Oct. 5 (Saturdays)
• Charlotte-Houston: Resumes Oct. 6 (Sundays)
• Cincinnati-Phoenix: Resumes Oct. 5 (Saturdays)
• Cincinnati-Orlando: Resumes Oct. 5 (Saturdays and Sundays)
• Dallas-Fort Myers, Florida: Resumes Oct. 6 (Sundays)
• Dallas-Tucson, Arizona: Resumes Oct.3 (daily)
• Denver-Fort Myers: Resumes Oct. 3 (four round trips per week)
• El Paso, Texas-Orlando: Resumes Oct. 5 (Saturdays)
• Fort Lauderdale-Montego Bay, Jamaica: Resumes Oct. 5 (Saturdays)
• Grand Rapids-Orlando: Resumes Oct. 5 (Saturdays)
• Houston’s William P. Hobby Airport (HOU)-Philadelphia: Resumes Oct. 6 (Sundays)
• Jackson, Mississippi-Orlando: Resumes Oct. 5 (Saturdays)
• Kansas City-Los Cabos: Resumes Oct. 5 (Saturdays)
• Las Vegas-Raleigh: Resumes Oct. 3 (five round trips per week)
• Los Cabos-Sacramento: Resumes Oct. 5 (Saturdays and Sundays)
• Memphis-Phoenix: Resumes Oct. 3 (five round trips per week)
• Memphis-Tampa: Resumes Oct. 5 (Saturdays and Sundays)
• Miami-New Orleans: Resumes Oct. 3 (four round trips per week)
• Milwaukee-Fort Myers: Resumes Oct. 3 (daily)
• Nashville-Cancun: Resumes Oct. 6 (Sundays)
• Orlando-Tulsa: Resumes Oct. 5 (Saturdays and Sundays)
• Phoenix-Cancun: Resumes Oct. 5 (Saturdays and Sundays)
• Phoenix-Wichita, Kansas: Resumes Oct. 6 (Sundays)
• San Antonio-Cancun: Resumes Oct. 5 (Saturdays)

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