Southwest Just Announced a New Route to Mexico and More Cross-country Red-eye Flights

As well as an expansion at Seattle.

By Stella Shon Stella Shon

Stella Shon is an aviation news writer. Her work has been featured in publications including The Points Guy, USA Today, and others. Globetrotting more than 100,000 miles every year, she loves flying new airlines and scoping out remodeled airports. Travel + Leisure Editorial Guidelines Published on October 31, 2024

Close Loungers on a beach in Cancun, Mexico. Photo:

Federico Scotto/Getty Images

Southwest Airlines has announced major network plans for next summer, adding more than a dozen red-eye flights to its schedule and expanding popular domestic routes. 

The airline has extended its booking schedule through next August, Southwest announced on Wednesday. Starting June 5, 2025, the airline will fly daily between these domestic cities, with a key expansion out of Seattle:

• Austin (AUS) to/from Boston (BOS)
• Baltimore (BWI) to/from Portland, Ore. (PDX) and Seattle (SEA)
• Dallas (DAL) to/from Seattle (SEA)
• Denver to/from Myrtle Beach (MYR) and Savannah (SAV)
• Nashville to/from Seattle (SEA)

In addition, Southwest will introduce seasonal service to Cancun (CUN) from Colorado Springs (COS) next summer, marking the airport’s first-ever international service. This new route will begin on June 7, 2025, operating on a once-weekly basis on Saturdays.  

2025 is shaping up to be a big year for Southwest, as the popular domestic airline introduces brand-new seating on its incoming Boeing 737-800 and 737 MAX-8 aircraft. 

Additionally, following its announcement earlier this year of a “multi-year transformation to a 24-hour operation,” the airline remains on track to launch its first-ever red-eye flights in February 2025. Southwest has unveiled over a dozen new overnight services set to begin in early June: 

• Honolulu (HNL) to Los Angeles (LAX)
• Lihue (LIH) to Las Vegas (LAS)
• Long Beach (LGB) to Baltimore (BWI)
• Ontario (ONT) to Baltimore (BWI)
• Portland, Ore. (PDX) to Baltimore (BWI)
• Sacramento (SMF) to Orlando (MCO)
• San Francisco (SFO) to Baltimore (BWI) and Nashville (BNA)
• San Jose (SJC) to Baltimore (BWI)
• Seattle (SEA) to Baltimore (BWI), Chicago (MDW), Houston (HOU), and Nashville (BNA) 

Alongside the previously announced flights departing from Hawaii to the mainland U.S., Southwest suggests that more red-eye services will be gradually added. While the decision to add red-eyes has been controversial among loyal Southwest fliers, the new flight times can be time-savers for those flying from western to eastern time zones.