Southwest Airlines to Launch New Flight Service to Mexico in August
Southwest Airlines announced plans to extend its international service with flights to Mexico and other countries in the Caribbean.
Starting Aug. 10, Southwest Airlines will have flights to both the Pacific and Caribbean coasts of Mexico. Non-stop flights have been named for the cities of Cancun and San Jose del Cabo/Los Cabos.
The airline company announced special introductory fares, which include U.S. and foreign government fees and taxes, in celebration of the new destinations but if the flights are taken from specific U.S. cities. Milwaukee, Wis. flights to Cancun will cost $214, one way. Also, Santa Ana/Orange County, Calif. to San Jose del Cabo/Los Cabos will cost $143, one way.
People in Denver, Colo. can fly to San Jose del Cabo/Los Cabos, one way, for $192. The flights from Denver to Mexico, however, are scheduled to begin in October. Trips to Cancun will be daily round-trip flights starting Oct. 7 while San Jose del Cabo/Los Cabos will be a Saturday-only service starting Oct. 11.
According to Southwest Airlines, the special priced fares must be purchased by March 13 at 11:59 p.m. local time of the respective time zone of the departing city.
"Fares are nonrefundable but may be applied toward future travel on Southwest Airlines, so long as you cancel your reservations at least 10 minutes prior to the scheduled departure of your flight," Southwest Airlines noted in a statement. "Failure to change or cancel a flight in your itinerary prior to departure will result in forfeiture of remaining funds on the entire reservation.
The airline acknowledged any changes in the itinerary could result in an increase in fares and prices are also subject to increase until ticketed.
"The make-ready process for international service has involved almost all of Southwest's nearly 45,000 employees to implement additional technologies, training, and compliance to obtain operational and regulatory approvals, and to ready the people, planes, and policies unique to Southwest Airlines to serve Customers in new countries," Southwest Airlines noted in a statement.
Southwest Airlines stated it serves more than 100 million customers annually as it serves 96 destinations across 41 states, District of Columbia, Puerto Rico, and "five near-international countries" courtesy of its subsidiary AirTran Airways. Southwest acquired AirTrain Airways in May 2011 and is projected to complete its network integration by the end of 2014.
__
For the latest updates, follow Latin Post's Michael Oleaga on Twitter: @EditorMikeO