Southwest begins service at airport with new flights

SARASOTA — Southwest Airlines Co. has published initial flight schedules for Sarasota Bradenton International Airport. 

Sarasota-Bradenton service will begin on Feb. 14, 2021, according to a press release. 

Southwest will initially serve customers through four nonstop routes from the airport: Baltimore/Washington, Chicago (Midway), Houston (Hobby) and Nashville. Tickets for the destinations are available now on Southwest.com. 

Initial service will include nonstop flights daily, with up to three flights each way to Baltimore/Washington, up to two flights each way to Chicago (Midway), one flight each way to Houston (Hobby) and two flights each way to Nashville. 

Southwest had previously announced it would start serving Sarasota Bradenton International Airport last week. 

Southwest also announced service at Savannah/Hilton Head starting March 11 and Long Beach Airport in California starting March 11. It will reinstate international service from Orange County/Santa Ana on March 11 with once daily service to Los Cabos and Puerto Vallarta.

Dallas-based Southwest Airlines Co. had a customer base topping 130 million passengers in 2019, a statement says. In peak travel seasons during 2019, Southwest operated more than 4,000 weekday departures among a network of 101 destinations in the U.S. and 10 additional countries.