Southwest Airlines Expands Overseas Map With 8 Fresh Routes

Southwest is taking Las Vegas international for the first time and setting a record with its longest-ever flight — here’s every new route and what it means for travelers.

Southwest Airlines added eight new international routes for the July-December 2026 season while dropping seven, a net gain of one, according to an analysis of the carrier’s schedule data as of July 7, 2026.

Four of the additions depart from Las Vegas — Southwest’s first-ever international service from that airport — and one of them will become the longest international route in the carrier’s 55-year history.

Why It Matters

The expansion comes as Southwest undergoes what it has described as a sweeping business transformation, adding assigned seating, checked-bag fees and premium fare tiers for the first time while posting record revenue. Southwest’s international operations grew 5% year-over-year for the July-December period, twice the pace of its domestic growth, even though international flying still accounts for only about 1% of the airline’s total operations. The carrier plans an average of 42 daily international departures across 71 routes through December. As of June 2026, Southwest serves 117 airports in 11 countries.

Two of the eight new routes — Kansas City to Punta Cana, Dominican Republic, and Las Vegas to San José, Costa Rica — are brand-new city pairs that no airline has flown before.

Southwest Chief Executive Bob Jordan has signaled the carrier’s international ambitions could grow further. Speaking at The Bernstein Strategic Decisions Conference on May 28, 2026, Jordan said it’s “likely that we’ll … delve into long-haul international” flying within five years. “We’re not going to become Delta and United and American in terms of serving 120 far-international destinations. It took them decades to build that,” he added.

The 8 New Routes At a Glance

Frequencies reflect Southwest’s scheduled operations through December 2026, per OAG data.

Las Vegas Goes International

Las Vegas is Southwest’s second-busiest airport after Denver, according to Southwest’s internal traffic data, but the carrier had never operated an international flight from LAS until June 4, 2026, when it launched nonstop service to Cancún and Los Cabos, Mexico. Two more Las Vegas routes follow on Nov. 1: Puerto Vallarta, growing from twice weekly to six times weekly, and San José, Costa Rica, operating daily from launch.

The Las Vegas-Cancún route, flying about five times weekly, launched as the only nonstop link between the two cities. Las Vegas-Los Cabos, growing from weekly to daily service, fills a gap left by Alaska Airlines, which flew the route until April 2026, while Las Vegas-Puerto Vallarta replaces Alaska service that ended in February 2026.

The Nov. 1 debut of Las Vegas-San José will make it Southwest’s longest-ever international route, covering 2,297 nautical miles, or 4,254 kilometers, with a scheduled block time of up to 6 hours and 10 minutes, based on scheduled flight data. The route will operate daily as flight WN102, departing Las Vegas at 11:35 p.m. and arriving in San José at 7 a.m. local time; the return flight, WN104, leaves San José around 1:20 p.m. and lands in Las Vegas at 5:25 p.m. local time. Southwest already flies to San José from Baltimore/Washington, Denver, Houston and Orlando, making Las Vegas its fifth U.S. gateway to the Costa Rican capital.

Southwest built its Las Vegas-San José connectivity around passengers arriving within a three-hour window and no more than 30% longer than a nonstop routing, a strategy the airline says opens the route to more than 280,000 potential passengers connecting from 11 West Coast airports. Before Southwest’s entry, the Las Vegas-San José market carried about 33,000 round-trip passengers annually, according to booking data through April 2026, while Las Vegas-Cancún carried about 120,000.

Caribbean Additions

Southwest is also pushing into the Caribbean. Service between Orlando and St. Maarten began April 7, 2026, growing from five times weekly to daily, and directly challenges Frontier Airlines on the same route. A Baltimore/Washington-to-St. Maarten route followed on April 11, expanding from twice weekly to six times weekly; it marks Southwest’s return to a market last served by US Airways in 1997, a 29-year gap. Both routes fly into Princess Juliana International Airport.

“The new service introduces daily nonstop flights between Orlando and Sint Maarten, further strengthening the island’s accessibility to the United States and beyond,” the airport said in an official statement announcing the Orlando route. In the same statement, the airport said of the coming Baltimore/Washington service: “Building on today’s milestone, Southwest’s Baltimore/Washington service is scheduled to commence on April 11, 2026, further enhancing airlift to the destination and opening an additional gateway for travelers.”

A third new Caribbean route, Kansas City to Punta Cana, launched March 7, 2026, growing from Saturday-only service to five times weekly. No airline had previously flown that nonstop city pair. Southwest also resumed service between San Diego and Puerto Vallarta on March 5, 2026, growing from weekly to five times weekly in a market it last served in 2020 and where it now competes directly with Alaska Airlines.

Routes Trimmed

Southwest’s international growth came alongside cuts. The carrier dropped seven international routes for the July-December comparison, including Chicago O’Hare-Cancún and Colorado Springs-Cancún — the latter had been the only international market from Colorado Springs. The remaining five discontinued routes were not identified in Southwest’s schedule data.

The O’Hare cut was part of a larger move: Southwest exited Chicago O’Hare and Washington Dulles entirely, for all service, on June 4, 2026. “Operating at Chicago O’Hare continues to be challenging, and we are confident we can serve Chicagoland through Chicago Midway,” a Southwest spokesperson said. The airline will continue flying from Midway, where it has operated for 41 years, and will keep its Baltimore/Washington and Washington Reagan National operations in the D.C. area.

A separate industry analysis put the number of Southwest’s H2 2026 international cuts at 11, a figure that appears to capture a broader period or additional temporary suspensions beyond the seven-route, July-December comparison cited above. That same analysis found Southwest still planned 65 international routes for the third quarter of 2026 from 21 U.S. airports, averaging 40 daily international departures.

The Bigger Picture

Southwest’s overseas push follows a turbulent stretch for the company. Activist investor Elliott Investment Management built a $1.9 billion stake, about 11.3% of the airline, in June 2024 and pushed for structural change; by February 2026, Elliott had trimmed its stake to about 9% and two board members had resigned. Southwest ended its 50-year open-seating policy on Jan. 27, 2026, and began charging $35 for a first checked bag and $45 for a second beginning May 28, 2025 — fees that rose to $45 and $55, respectively, starting April 9, 2026. Jordan has called 2025 “the most transformational year in the history” of Southwest.

The changes have coincided with improved financial results. Southwest reported record operating revenue of $7.249 billion in the first quarter of 2026, up 12.8% from a year earlier, alongside $227 million in net income and a first-quarter operating cash flow of $1.4 billion, up 65%. Revenue per available seat mile rose 11.2%, and managed business revenue, a closely watched measure of higher-fare corporate travel, climbed 16% to a quarterly record. Southwest ended the quarter with 800 aircraft after taking delivery of 10 Boeing 737-8s and retiring 13 planes, and it has guided to full-year adjusted earnings per share of at least $4.00, more than triple last year’s result.

Jordan named a potential future gateway for long-haul flying during the Bernstein conference: “Baltimore would be a natural hopping-off point.” He also said fare increases tied to the airline’s changes have not dented demand: “With fares up though that much, there’s been no drop-off in demand at all.”