Southwest Airlines will add nonstop service from Milwaukee Mitchell International Airport to Destin, Florida this summer, the airline announced today.
The new flights, offered every Saturday from June 12 through Aug. 14, feature free checked bags and no change fees, according to a press release.
Wisconsin has never had nonstop flights to Destin, Milwaukee Mitchell International airport director Brain Dranzik said in a statement.
“These new flight additions from Southwest show how important it is for Wisconsin travelers to choose MKE,” Dranzik said. “Airlines respond to demand from travelers, so the more we all book tickets from our hometown airport, the more service like this we will get.”
Southwest’s Saturday-only flights to Fort Lauderdale are also being converted to daily nonstop flights beginning April 12, including two nonstops on Saturdays through June 5. Saturday flights to Fort Lauderdale will continue through Aug. 14.
The airline is also increasing flight frequencies on existing daily nonstop routes from Milwaukee including Fort Myers, Orlando, Phoenix and Tampa beginning April 12, according to a press release.
Southwest’s new service from Milwaukee to Sarasota and Brandenton, originally scheduled to operate on Saturdays through May 8, will also be extended through Aug. 14. The airline serves six Florida cities nonstop from Milwaukee with today’s announcement.
In February, Southwest had 45.6% of total passengers at Mitchell, up from 41.2% in February 2020.
The amount of airline service has been on the rise at Mitchell International as of late. Last month, Spirit Airlines launched daily flights from Milwaukee to Orlando, Las Vegas and Los Angeles.
The new flights from Southwest also come days after United Airlines announced new nonstop flights from Milwaukee to cities on the south and east coasts of the country.
Milwaukee Mitchell now has eight passenger airlines including Air Canada, Alaska Airlines, American Airlines, Delta Airlines, Frontier Airlines, Southwest Airlines, United Airlines and Spirit Airlines.
Passenger traffic at Mitchell International fell 61.9% in 2020, due to the COVID-19 pandemic, to 2.6 million passengers, down from nearly 6.9 million passengers in 2019.
