Denver is Southwest’s leading airport with 73 routes and 1,430 weekly departures. It replaces Chicago Midway, which has fallen to second. Denver has seen multiple new Southwest routes in the past year, with more coming this week.
Denver top for Southwest
Denver is Southwest’s top airport, up from second last year, according to OAG schedules data. This is based on the present week, starting March 10th, and is in comparison to the same week last year.
Chicago Midway is now second (down from first), followed by Phoenix (up from sixth), Baltimore (unchanged), Dallas Love (unchanged), and Las Vegas (down from third). Atlanta is now in the top-10, while San Diego has gone from 10th to 15th.
In this mid-March week, Southwest’s top-10 airports have a total of 9,549 departures, down by almost one-fifth. The carrier has 1,430 departures from Denver, reduced by just 24 year-on-year, for a 29% share of the Colorado airport’s departures – up from 24% last year.
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Eugene and Bellingham to Denver too?
Southwest has launched multiple routes from Denver in the past year, including Birmingham, Charlotte, Charleston, Chicago O’Hare, Des Moines, Little Rock, Miami, Montrose, Palm Springs, Steamboat Springs, and Wichita.
Coming on March 11th are another three routes: Charleston, Colorado Springs, and Norfolk. At just 73 miles, Colorado Springs will be the airline’s shortest route across its whole network, even shorter than those within Hawaii.
Southwest will be Colorado Springs’ top airline this summer by seat capacity, OAG indicates, with five routes operated. However, the airport won’t be a particularly significant one for the carrier, as is often the case when it serves other nearby airports.
Various other routes are starting this year too, including Bozeman (May 27th), Fresno (April 25th), Houston Intercontinental (April 12th), and Santa Barbara (April 12th). And it’s likely that Eugene and Bellingham, both to join Southwest’s network, will also get Denver service, although nothing has been announced yet.
Southwest has 73 non-stop Denver routes
Southwest has 73 routes this March week, up from 65 year-on-year. The likes of Albany, Hartford, Belize City, and Lubbock aren’t presently operating, with some returning later this year.
California, Texas, Florida, Illinois, and Arizona are its top-five states from Denver. California is king, with 18% of its departures across 11 routes. It has over 100 additional weekly departures than Texas, with five routes. Florida has jumped from fourth to third; its network now comprises six routes.
Average of 20 weekly departures from Denver
Southwest has an average of 20 weekly departures across these 73 routes. Its lowest frequency, at five-weekly, is Norfolk, while various others, including Cincinnati, Little Rock, and Raleigh Durham, are once-daily or less. 36 routes, meanwhile, have at least a 20-weekly service, led by Phoenix, Love, Hobby, Las Vegas, and Midway.
