Southwest Airlines is adding 12 daily flights out of Denver, including new service to Houston, Kansas City, Orlando and Nashville.
The carrier, which started flying out of Denver in January and currently operates 20 daily flights, announced today it will increase the number in July and August for a total of 32 daily flights out of Denver.
The two largest carriers in Denver are United Airlines, which has its second largest hub in Denver with about 455 daily departures here, and Denver-based Frontier, with about 150.
Starting July 17, Southwest will add from Denver one daily flight to Houston Hobby. It will add one additional flight each on routes from Denver to Baltimore/Washington, Chicago Midway and Phoenix.
Starting Aug. 4, Southwest will add from Denver four daily flights to Kansas City, one to Orlando and one to Nashville. It will also add one additional flight each on routes to Las Vegas and Houston Hobby.
Southwest’s discounted introductory fares for the new routes in Denver start at $158 round trip to Houston, $118 round trip to Kansas City, $198 round trip to Orlando and $178 round trip to Nashville. The fares are available through Oct. 27, and come with restrictions and additional taxes and fees.
Southwest is the nation’s largest low-cost carrier, and other carriers in the highly-competitive airline industry often match fares. That dynamic makes Southwest’s low-fare competition one of the biggest challenges for competitors such as Frontier, particularly as they are squeezed by higher fuel costs.
Dallas-based Southwest announced the new Denver flights as part of a larger expansion of its route network today. Most of the new flights were out of Denver.
Staff writer Kelly Yamanouchi can be reached at kyamanouchi@denverpost.com or at 303-820-1488.
