Southwest Adds New Routes in Hawaii, California Just in Time for Summer
Stephen M. Keller/Courtesy of Southwest Airlines
Southwest Airlines is introducing several new routes this summer, including a new service between two popular Hawaiian islands.
Starting June 5, the carrier will fly once each day between Maui and Kauai, according to the airline. This new flight is in addition to Southwest's already existing interisland flights between Oahu and Maui, Oahu and both Hilo and Kona on the Island of Hawaii, Oahu and Kauai, and Kona and Maui.
Southwest, which began flying between Hawaii's islands in 2019, is also increasing the frequency of its other Hawaiian routes.
"For a gamut of travelers seeking business opportunity, faraway fun, or family time, these new routes and additional flights put the Hospitality and value of Southwest Airlines in front of more of our Customers," Andrew Watterson, the executive vice president, and chief commercial officer at Southwest, said in a statement. "We recently extended our flight schedule to early November, and we're making available new service sooner for planning early summertime journeys."
In addition to Hawaii, Southwest will add two more new routes: between San Jose, Calif., and Eugene, Ore., and between Sacramento and Santa Barbara in California. Each route will begin June 5 and be scheduled once per day.
Southwest will also increase the frequency it offers on several routes throughout California — including from San Jose and between San Diego and Sacramento, San Jose, and Oakland — as well as to Havana, Cuba, from both Fort Lauderdale and Tampa in Florida.
Southwest's new routes come just weeks after the airline introduced a new fare class: Wanna Get Away Plus. The new fare will enable travelers to make same-day changes as well as transfer eligible unused flight credits to someone else for future use.
Hawaii ended its Safe Travels program last month, waiving all vaccination and testing requirements for domestic travelers and making it as easy to visit as before the pandemic.
Alison Fox is a contributing writer for Travel + Leisure. When she's not in New York City, she likes to spend her time at the beach or exploring new destinations and hopes to visit every country in the world. Follow her adventures on Instagram.
