Southwest Announces Initial Newark Service

Southwest revealed its initial routes from Newark Liberty International Airport today, announcing eight daily nonstops starting March 27. The airline will fly six daily nonstops to Chicago (Midway) and two daily nonstops to St. Louis.

CEO Gary Kelly told reporters assembled at Southwest Headquarters in Dallas that more routes will be coming in the near future. He explained that the new routes account for less than half the take-off and landing slots it has at Newark, and said travelers “should expect to hear more service announcements from us on Newark before the end of the year.”

Kelly added, “What this does for us, in combination with LaGuardia, is give us 11 daily departures to New York City from Chicago Midway, and for the first time ever, we’ll have service from St. Louis to the New York area.”

Southwest leased 36 slots at Newark from Continental this summer. The Department of Justice forced Continental and United to give the slots up as part of their merger approval process. Shortly after Southwest announced the lease, JetBlue announced plans to add service between Newark and Boston, one of its primary focus cities.

Readers, where else should Southwest fly from Newark?