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Home » Southwest Airlines » Southwest Airlines’ Huge Hawaii Expansion
HawaiiSouthwest Airlines

Southwest Airlines’ Huge Hawaii Expansion

Matthew Klint Posted onMay 14, 2021November 14, 2023 8 Comments

a woman in a lei standing in an airplane

Southwest Airlines will greatly expand its service in Hawaii with new service from four cities which will directly challenge competitors and respond to growing demand for travel to the Hawaiian islands.

In This Post:

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  • Southwest Airlines Announces Hawaii Expansion From Four Cities
    • New Las Vegas – Hawaii Routes On Southwest
    • New Los Angeles – Hawaii Routes On Southwest
    • New Phoenix  – Hawaii Routes On Southwest
    • New San Diego – Hawaii Routes On Southwest
  • Southwest Will Temper Fares, But Likely Won’t Be Cheapest
  • CONCLUSION

Southwest Airlines Announces Hawaii Expansion From Four Cities

Two years ago, Southwest launched service to Hawaii from Oakland (OKA), Sacramento (SMF), San Diego (SAN), and San Jose (SJC). Earlier this year, it launched service to Hawaii from Long Beach (LGB).

Now Southwest Airlines will challenge American, Delta, Hawaiian, and United directly with new routes from Las Vegas (LAS), Los Angeles (LAX), Phoenix (PHX), and San Diego (SAN). Southwest will use a mix of Boeing 737-800 and 737 MAX aircraft for its new service.

New Las Vegas – Hawaii Routes On Southwest

Starting in early June, Southwest will serve Honolulu from Las Vegas. It will add service to three additional cities according to the following schedule:

  • Honolulu (HNL) –  June 6, 2021 – 2x daily
  • Maui (OGG) – June 27, 2021 – 2x daily
  • Kona (KOA) – September 7, 2021 – daily
  • Lihue (LIH) – September 8, 2021 – daily

Fares will start at $159 each way and include two checked bags.

New Los Angeles – Hawaii Routes On Southwest

Starting in June, Southwest will serve Honolulu and Maui from Los Angeles. It will add service to Kona and Lihue cities according to the following schedule:

  • Honolulu (HNL) –  June 6, 2021 – 2x daily
  • Maui (OGG) – June 6, 2021 – 3x daily
  • Kona (KOA) – September 7, 2021 – daily
  • Lihue (LIH) – September 8, 2021 – daily

Introductory fares start at $129 each way.

New Phoenix  – Hawaii Routes On Southwest

Starting in late June, Southwest will serve Honolulu and Maui from Phoenix. It will later add service to Kona and Lihue cities according to the following schedule:

  • Honolulu (HNL) –  June 27, 2021 – 2x daily
  • Maui (OGG) – June 27, 2021 – 2x daily
  • Kona (KOA) – September 7, 2021 – daily
  • Lihue (LIH) – September 8, 2021 – daily

Introductory fares start at $159 each way.

New San Diego – Hawaii Routes On Southwest

In June, Southwest will increase service to Honolulu and add service to Maui from San Diego. Later in June it will add service to Kona and Lihue cities according to the following schedule:

  • Honolulu (HNL) –  June 6, 2021 – 2x daily
  • Maui (OGG) – June 6, 2021 – daily (becomes 2x daily on June 27, 2021)
  • Kona (KOA) – June 27, 2021 – daily
  • Lihue (LIH) – June 29, 2021 – daily

Introductory fares start at $129 each way.

Southwest Will Temper Fares, But Likely Won’t Be Cheapest

Southwest is rarely the cheapest option and likely will not be to Hawaii either. However, if you are checking two bags and do not have elite status or a co-branded airline credit card, suddenly Southwest likely offers the best all-in price.

Long-term, Southwest may be slightly more than the competition, but it will cause carriers like American, Delta, Hawaiian, and United to keep fares lower.

United may have dodged a bullet in that Southwest elected not to add service to Hawaii from Denver at this time. Since Southwest does not operate redeye flights and has limited range on its fleet of 737 aircraft, legacy carriers will continue to have the advantage on longer, nonstop routes to Hawaii.

CONCLUSION

Southwest just announced a huge expansion to Hawaii, something it has hinted at for two years. The new service will keep fares in check and makes Southwest a force to be reckoned with in terms of service to Hawaii.

Will you fly Southwest Airlines to Hawaii?

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About Author

Matthew Klint

Matthew is an avid traveler who calls Los Angeles home. Each year he travels more than 200,000 miles by air and has visited more than 135 countries. Working both in the aviation industry and as a travel consultant, Matthew has been featured in major media outlets around the world and uses his Live and Let's Fly blog to share the latest news in the airline industry, commentary on frequent flyer programs, and detailed reports of his worldwide travel.

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8 Comments

  1. john Reply
    May 14, 2021 at 3:54 pm

    How does ONT get the shaft here. At least a 1X HNL.

  2. Carl WV Reply
    May 14, 2021 at 5:06 pm

    “Southwest is really the cheapest option and likely will not be to Hawaii either.”

    Did you mean “rarely” rather than “really”?

  3. Maurice Reply
    May 14, 2021 at 6:36 pm

    This is great news for San Diego! Alaska is the dominant nonstop carrier to Hawaii with all four island served daily, but prices can be astronomical at times, except for Honolulu which also has competition from Hawaiian. Fare wars will likely becoming the norms from SAN with such a dramatic increase in overall capacity between the three airlines.

  4. Matthew Booher Reply
    May 15, 2021 at 4:18 pm

    Yes, we’ll be flying WN to Hawaii. As a Companion Pass holder, my Beloved flies for free, so Southwest is the best choice for us! We’ll be flying RNO to LAX, and then to the Islands from there.

    We were going to fly there last year, but the CCP Virus stopped us.

    Looking forward to it!

  5. John Luffred Reply
    May 15, 2021 at 6:32 pm

    737 to Hawaii?
    No thanks!
    You get what you pay for!

    • Kyle Stewart Reply
      May 15, 2021 at 9:00 pm

      In fairness, it’s a little difficult to find twin-aisle aircraft from west of Phoenix to the islands. The largest carrier to Hawaii is Alaska and that’s all they fly. San Francisco on United? Same. American was flying A320s from LA. I am sure some of these might be swapped for twin-aisles and I know that AA used to fly 757s but it’s really common to get to Hawaii on short-haul aircraft.

  6. Pedro Reply
    May 15, 2021 at 9:53 pm

    Kyle, bro, wake up…UA runs 8 wide bodies daily from LAX/SFO to HNL/OGG. Last time I looked they all had twin aisles…UA will run 40 flights a day mainland-Hawaii this summer, many on wide bodies.
    Short haul aircraft…?? The 737 can fly SFO-NYC and has had that capability for decades…so what’s a short-haul aircraft?

    • Kyle Stewart Reply
      May 15, 2021 at 11:03 pm

      @Pedro – Did they swap those for COVID? I’m certain they were flying 737s when I shopped a number of flights to Guam on the island hopper.

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