AUSTIN, Texas — Southwest Airlines is adding nine new, nonstop routes from Austin-Bergstrom International Airport (AUS). Southwest, already the airport's busiest airline, is calling the expansion its biggest ever in Austin.
The airline is adding more than 20 flights to the Austin schedule in March. The expansion will increase Southwest's reach to a total of 46 destinations from Austin and increase the airline's departures from 82 to 105 per day.
The new daily nonstop routes will go to Amarillo, Texas; Charleston, South Carolina; Columbus, Ohio; Midland-Odessa, Texas; and Ontario, California. The airline also plans to start nonstop service to Puerto Vallarta, Mexico, and seasonal weekly flights to Panama City Beach, Florida; Sarasota, Florida; and Destin, Florida.
The airline will also add two new gates for a total of 10 at AUS to accommodate more than 100 flight departures some days with all these new flight options.
Southwest said the expansion is directly related to Austin's booming business growth.
"Central Texas, the Austin economy, all the businesses coming in, even the population gain. We've been the largest carrier here, the hometown carrier, for 30 years and we've got a good customer base and we've seen how vibrant it is. And they're demanding these flights," said Dave Harvey, vice president of Southwest Business. "That's why we're delivering it to the marketplace."
In 2019, a record-breaking year for travel, Southwest flew nearly 6 million passengers from Austin's airport.
With all this growth comes the need for more employees. A spokesperson for Southwest said the airline is hiring for all positions.
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