Southwest Airlines recently announced new seasonal weekly nonstop service between Louisville Muhammad Ali International Airport (SDF) and Fort Lauderdale-Hollywood International Airport (FLL) beginning Saturday, December 21, 2019. The airline will operate the flight using 143-seat Boeing 737 aircraft.
“We’re pleased that Southwest continues to expand service here in Louisville with Fort Lauderdale marking the third new nonstop destination they have added in the past 17 months,” said Dan Mann Executive Director of the Louisville Regional Airport Authority. “Southwest’s on-going investment of new routes at SDF speaks highly of the strength of our market and our strong partnership with them.”
With this announcement, Southwest Airlines will offer nonstop flights to ten destinations from Louisville including Baltimore, Chicago-Midway, Dallas-Love Field, Denver, Houston-Hobby, Las Vegas, Orlando, Phoenix and Tampa. Tickets are now available at www.southwest.com.
“This is great news for Louisvillians looking to head south for work or fun, and a further sign of the strength of the Louisville market,” said Mayor Greg Fischer. “We’re pleased that Southwest clearly gets that, as it continues to expand its services here.”
The Fort Lauderdale flight came as part of the airlines winter schedule release. In addition to this new route, Southwest is also increasing their number of daily flights to Chicago-Midway as well as the number of weekend flights to Baltimore, Orlando, Phoenix and Tampa. With these service increases, Southwest’s Louisville capacity will be up 13% in January and February 2020.
This announcement follows a record-setting first six-months of the year for Louisville Muhammad Ali International Airport with 2,049,504 total passengers – a 12.5% increase in passenger traffic. Since September 2018, nine of the 10 months have also set passenger records, with June celebrated as the airport’s busiest month yet with 206,000 enplanements.
This level of growth – fueled by expanded markets and new announcements including Fort Lauderdale – has placed Louisville’s airport on track to celebrate its best year ever.
Louisville Muhammad Ali International Airport is served by six airlines offering flights to more than 30 nonstop destinations including 19 of the region’s top 20 domestic markets. With just one stop, travelers from across the region can reach more than 460 destination sin the U.S. and worldwide.
