SOUTHWEST Airlines has confirmed it is launching a new non-stop route to a popular vacation island.
It is the first time in four years that the airline has added a new international destination to its flight schedule.
Southwest Airlines has announced a brand new route that will be launched next year (stock)[/caption]
The carrier will be adding a nonstop route to the Caribbean island of Sint Maarten (stock)[/caption]
But passengers will have to be patient as the new route will not be running for a number of months.
However, next year Southwest passengers will be able to fly non-stop to the beautiful Caribbean Island of Sint Maarten.
The new route will be launched on April 7, 2026, flying passengers to and from the island’s Princess Juliana International Airport.
It will run between both Orlando International Airport, Florida, and Baltimore/Washington International Airport, Maryland, the carrier said.
The Orlando-Sint Maarten route will have one round trip per day from April 7.
This will then be expanded on April 9 to include a weekend service from Maryland/
“These nonstop routes allow round trip connections with more than 45 airports across the U.S.,” Southwest said.
“This is Southwest’s first new international destination since 2021,” it added.
Known as ‘The Friendly Island’, Sint Maarten, which is located 190 miles east of Puerto Rico, is made up of two nations – The Netherlands and France.
The Princess Juliana Airport lies in the Dutch side and travelers often gather on the nearby beaches to get up close to the low-flying planes as they come in to land.
It’s “one island with two heartbeats”, Southwest says.
The carrier says it hopes the changes to its flight schedule will “offer inspiration to book travel through June 3, 2026.”
As well as opening up the route to the idyllic island, Southwest is also trying to tempt passengers with new “time-saving” routes and seasonal schedules.
“Southwest also introduced new routes in its schedule aimed at giving customers time-saving ways to get to where they want to go,” it said.
After having just announced a new service at Knoxville, Tennessee, the carrier has now confirmed there will be a new nonstop route between Knoxville and Denver.
This will “operate seasonally on Saturdays and Sundays beginning April 9, 2026,” it said.
Meanwhile, “a new seasonal route will link Chicago O’Hare and Panama City, Florida, on Saturdays beginning April 9, 2026.”
But while flyers might get excited about the latest additions, the airline and its rival United have both announced cuts that will take place in a matter of days.
Southwest is cutting flights between Tampa, Florida, and Havana, Cuba, from September 4, 2025.
Southwest currently offers a twice-daily round-trip service between Tampa and Havana, the capital of Cuba but from next week only one return trip will be running until March 2026.
Meanwhile United is halting all Houston to Havana flights until at least summer 2026, The U.S. Sun previously reported.
It is part of routine schedule adjustments driven by seasonality, demand, and market factors, the airline said.
In addition to changes to flight schedules and routes, travelers are also running into policy changes.
Earlier this week it was announced that Southwest would be hitting plus-sized passengers with a new seating policy from January 27.
And a budget airline has confirmed changes to personal passenger information.
Sint Maarten is unique with a dual-nation status as it is made up of two countries – The Netherlands and France (stock)[/caption]
Southwest called Sint Maarten ‘one island with two heartbeats’ (stock)[/caption]
