Southwest Airlines Starts 6 Major New Nonstop Routes To Hawaii: See Flights Now

Published Sep 20, 2026, 3:00 PM EDT A graduate in German, Jake has a passion for history and regional aviation, and enjoys sampling new carriers and aircraft. He has visited OEM facilities as far and wide as Bristol, Toulouse, and Seattle, and recently enjoyed the milestone of flying his 150th sector as a passenger. Based in Norfolk, UK. Hawaii is an important market for Southwest Airlines, and one where the carrier is continuously looking to grow. This is evidenced by the fact that, according to Cirium, an aviation analytics company, Southwest has launched or is launching six new routes to the Aloha State from March 2026 to March 2027. Five originate in California. As well as serving routes between Hawaii and the mainland, with its overall trajectory on this aerial corridor over the Pacific Ocean clearly being an upward one, Southwest Airlines also has a role to play on interisland flights. In this article, we will dive into the data and take a closer look at the airports the new routes serve, as well as the frequencies and aircraft used on Southwest's new corridors. Las Vegas To Hilo Credit: William Cobb | Shutterstock With five of the six new routes originating in California, the sole exception to this rule is Southwest's recently launched service from Harry Reid International Airport (LAS) to Hilo International Airport (ITO). Flights on this route began on August 6 and are expected to operate three to four times a week before moving closer to four to five times a week in the last two months of the year. Southwest's jet of choice is the 175-seat Boeing 737 MAX 8, and the westbound leg (WN568) takes six hours and five minutes, leaving Las Vegas at 9:30 AM and reaching Hilo at 12:35 PM. The return leg (WN3253), meanwhile, operates overnight, taking five hours and 25 minutes, leaving Hilo at 8:45 PM and landing at 5:10 AM. Las Vegas Convention & Visitors Authority CEO Steve Hill commented on the route back in December. "Las Vegas has long been known as the 'Ninth Island,' and this new route strengthens the deep connections we share with the people of Hawaii." Five New Routes From California Credit: William Cobb | Shutterstock Given its location on the Pacific West Coast of the US, the state of California has long served as a gateway for flights between Hawaii and the US mainland. This year, Southwest Airlines has launched two new routes to Honolulu from the state, originating in Burbank and Ontario. These flights began in August and June, respectively, and they are currently set to run until May, Loading map… Drag to explore Elsewhere, San Diego International Airport (SAN) is seeing a particularly significant boom in Southwest's flights to Hawaii. Indeed, one new route started this year, with two more commencing in 2027. The 2026 addition from San Diego was Maui, with daily flights commencing in early March. As it stands, these services will operate until at least early June. Then, in March 2027, Southwest will add two more Hawaiian corridors to its growing portfolio of routes out of SAN. Like the existing Maui route and those from Burbank and Ontario to Honolulu, these flights will also use the 175-seat 737 MAX 8, with destinations of Kona and Lihue. Frequencies will be lower, at around two flights a week. Southwest Airlines Also Plays An Important Inter-Island Role In Hawaii Credit: Larry Zhou | Shutterstock Of course, Southwest's presence in Hawaii isn't just about six-hour hops across the Pacific Ocean. Indeed, its Boeing 737 narrowbody twinjets also play a key role in keeping the Hawaiian Islands connected. This month alone, the airline has penciled in almost 1,500 inter-island Hawaiian flights, according to Cirium. Southwest Airlines' Intra-Hawaiian Presence, September 2026 Flights Seats ASMs 1,468 256,900 35,924,700 Its top route links Honolulu with Maui seven or eight times a day, while there are typically four or five daily services on the corridors from Honolulu to Hilo, Kona, and Lihue. Elsewhere, Maui has daily links to Kona and Lihue, with Southwest providing vital inter-island connectivity across the four main Hawaiian airports it also serves from the mainland US, many miles away.