Southwest to launch 1st new destination since 2021, with nonstop US Virgin Islands flights

Southwest Airlines is expanding in the Caribbean, with plans to serve its first new destination in nearly half a decade.

The Dallas-based carrier on Monday announced it will launch nonstop service to St. Thomas in the U.S. Virgin Islands.

The new flights will begin in early 2026.

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For Southwest, gaining access to the U.S. Virgin Islands is an especially noteworthy destination. Beyond a new island and territory, it's the airline's first new destination in several years.

The last new pin on the carrier's proverbial map came in late 2021, when it added Syracuse Hancock International Airport (SYR) in upstate New York during the COVID-19 pandemic, when domestic travel led the way.

Recent years have seen Southwest make cutbacks to its route map, including exiting Syracuse itself.

That's set to change.

3 new Southwest cities coming soon

Southwest said Monday that it plans to announce a total of three all-new cities — St. Thomas, plus two more that the carrier has not yet revealed.

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While the remaining two will no doubt be the source of much speculation, Southwest also did not reveal which cities it intends to use to serve St. Thomas' Cyrus E. King International Airport (STT).

The carrier told TPG it doesn't want to tip its hand to competitors before the route goes on sale — which is expected soon.

For what it's worth, Southwest's most significant East Coast growth over the past two years has focused on Baltimore/Washington International Thurgood Marshall Airport (BWI) and Nashville International Airport (BNA). We'll know soon enough whether it's one of those airports, or a different Southwest base, that gets this new STT nonstop flight.

Southwest's new St. Thomas flights

Located in the Caribbean, St. Thomas (and the U.S Virgin Islands as a whole) makes for a popular travel destination: all of the warm weather and beaches you'd expect in a tropical destination, but without the need to even bring a passport — that is, unless you plan to take a boat trip to the nearby British Virgin Islands, as I did on a 2017 trip.

Multiple new, overhauled and rebranded points properties have opened in recent years, including a marquee Marriott Bonvoy property in the Westin Beach Resort and Spa at Frenchman's Reef.

"We want to make Southwest Airlines the easy and obvious choice every time, and this is another meaningful step in our ongoing transformation," Southwest CEO Bob Jordan said in a statement Monday.

Several major U.S. airlines currently fly to and from St. Thomas. American Airlines has by far the biggest presence, according to data from aviation analytics firm Cirium — followed by Delta Air Lines, Spirit Airlines and United Airlines.

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