Southwest Airlines is to add non-stop services between 20 cities as it continues to take delivery of new Boeing 737-700 narrowbodies.
The Dallas, Texas-based low fares carrier expects to take delivery of 29 Next Generation 737s this year, and retire its six oldest 737-200s, taking its fleet to 306 aircraft by year end.
The 50 new daily flights will be added in June, July and August, and a further service expansion is expected to be announced in time for the autumn schedule, South-west says.
The airline says that this move "connects the dots", as it already flies to the 20 cities, but it does not provide nonstop service between them. In parallel, South-west is continuing its expansion into the US East Coast, inaugurating service at Islip, New York, on 14 March, with 12 daily flights operating to four cities.
The airline is to begin services from Raleigh/Durham, North Carolina, on 6 June with 12 daily flights to five cities.
The move has prompted incumbent Midway Airlines, which has a marketing agreement with American Airlines, to abandon its proposals to add services to Chicago Midway, Illinois, and Orlando, Florida, two of the cities that are scheduled to be be served by Southwest from Raleigh/ Durham.
Source: Flight International
