Southwest is leaving Bellingham’s airport. Which airlines are left and where do they fly?

Daniel Schrager
·2 min read

Southwest Airlines announced yesterday it will be halting its operations at Bellingham International Airport in early August. While that means you won’t have to deal with people spontaneously breaking into Journey songs about their free bags anymore, it also means you have fewer options flying from BLI. Southwest currently operates direct flights to Denver, Oakland and Las Vegas.

If you don’t want to make the drive to Seattle (or Vancouver), here’s where you can still fly.

Allegiant Air

  • Budget airline Allegiant offers flights to Las Vegas nearly every day of the week. They currently operate a morning and afternoon flight on Sundays, Mondays, Thursdays and Fridays, a morning flight on Tuesdays and a Saturday flight.

  • The airline currently offers Sunday and Thursday morning flights to Phoenix-Mesa, and will add a Tuesday and Saturday option in the summer.

  • Allegiant flies to Los Angeles from Bellingham on Sunday and Thursday afternoons.

  • It also currently operates a Monday and Wednesday flight to Oakland from BLI. That expands to four times a week during the summer, and pauses during the late winter and early spring.

  • For people looking to escape Bellingham’s gray skies, Allegiant operates regular flights to Palm Springs during the colder months, but pauses service during the summer and early fall.

  • The airline also offers a seasonal flight to San Diego on Mondays and Fridays during the summer.

Alaska Airlines

  • Alaska Airlines flies three times a day from Bellingham, but only to one destination: Seattle. It’s a great option if you’re looking to catch a connecting flight, but a little excessive if you’re just trying to make it to Seattle.

  • An Alaska spokesperson said the airline would look at adding more flights from BLI to Seattle to fill some of the demand left behind by Southwest’s departure.

Passengers disembark from an Alaska Airlines plane arriving from Las Vegas at Bellingham International Airport on Feb. 25, 2015. Staff/The Bellingham Herald file
Passengers disembark from an Alaska Airlines plane arriving from Las Vegas at Bellingham International Airport on Feb. 25, 2015. Staff/The Bellingham Herald file

San Juan Airlines

  • San Juan Airlines offers three daily flights out of Bellingham on weekdays, and one a day on weekends. That won’t help you much, though, if you’re trying to go anywhere other than the San Juan Islands.