Flying High
Southwest Airlines adds new international destinations this fall
Southwest Airlines has announced two new international destinations from Houston's Hobby Airport this fall.
Flights to Montego Bay, Jamaica and Liberia, Costa Rica will begin November 1 out of Hobby’s $156 million international terminal, currently under construction. The airline previously announced flights to Mexico (Cancun, Mexico City, Los Cabos, Puerto Vallarta), Belize and San Jose, Costa Rica that will begin from Hobby on October 15.
Tickets to all international destinations go on sale Thursday on Southwest's website.
"2015 is all about Houston. You’ll have more choices and lower fares. It’s a great opportunity for all us to boost travel and tourism here in Houston, and that creates jobs," Southwest CEO Gary Kelly told an enthusiastic crowd. "We are just getting started. This is only the beginning.”
Southwest won the right to begin international flights out of the new Hobby terminal in the face of determined opposition from United Airlines three years ago. Mayor Annise Parker alluded to the battle when she paraphrased a quote from Lyndon Baines Johnson: that "sometimes it’s hard to figure out what the right thing is."
"This is a situation that it wasn’t hard at all to figure out that the right thing was to allow more competition for international flights," she said. "And it wasn't hard to do the right thing because the increased competition for international flights and a major investment in Hobby Airport will not only make this more convenient for the traveling public but it is also a huge stimulus to the area around Hobby Airport. We are excited at the possibilities."
