Southwest adding more trips to Florida
Southwest Airlines said Tuesday that it is adding more seasonal nonstop service between Milwaukee and Florida.
The newest service will be between Milwaukee and Destin-Fort Walton Beach Airport this summer. The new flights will be offered every Saturday from June 12 though Aug. 14.
The additional service continues the trend of airlines moving flights into leisure travel markets while business travel remains almost non-existent as a result of COVID-19, industry analysts have said.
A growing number of Americans, many now fully vaccinated against COVID-19, say they are ready to travel.
Airlines, burning through millions of dollars a day, are putting flights where they are seeing demand — or the potential for demand.
In a March 15 filing with U.S. securities regulators, Southwest said that it “continues to pursue additional revenue opportunities that utilize idle aircraft and employees ... to new, popular destinations across its domestic-focused network.”
Southwest is the dominant carrier at Milwaukee Mitchell International Airport, carrying about 50% of the passengers at the airport.
Florida is the top destination from Mitchell.
Meanwhile, Southwest also said on Tuesday that its new service from Milwaukee to Sarasota/Bradenton, originally scheduled to operate on Saturdays through May 8, will be extended through Aug. 14.
Southwest is also expanding its service between Milwaukee and Fort Lauderdale, Florida for the summer. Southwest’s Saturday-only Fort Lauderdale service is being converted to daily nonstops beginning April 12, including two nonstops on Saturdays, through June 5.
The Saturday flights to Fort Lauderdale will continue through Aug. 14.
Southwest is also increasing flight frequencies on several existing daily nonstop routes from Milwaukee to Fort Myers, Orlando and Tampa, Florida, and between Milwaukee and Phoenix, Arizona, beginning April 12.
“Wisconsin has never had nonstop flights to Destin prior to this announcement, so this new route is a great opportunity for Wisconsin travelers,” said Brian Dranzik, airport director at Mitchell, in a statement. “Airlines respond to demand from travelers, so the more we all book tickets from our hometown airport, the more service like this we will get.”
With Tuesday’s announcement, Southwest Airlines now serves six Florida cities nonstop, either daily or seasonally, from Milwaukee, the airport said in the statement.