Friday, May 25, 2012

Southwest Airlines' New Austin To Reagan National Airport Service Now For Sale

Southwest's service between Austin-Bergstrom International Airport (AUS) and Reagan National Airport (DCA) is now for sale at www.southwest.com.  Southwest will make its inaugural flight to DCA from Austin on July 8, 2012. To celebrate the new route, the carrier also announced a fare sale of $149 one-way between the two markets when purchased by May 28, 2012, at 11:59 PT.  These low fares are available for travel on Tuesdays, Wednesdays, and Saturdays when travel takes place between July 8, 2012, and October 10, 2012. Fares can only be purchased at www.southwest.com or www.swabiz.com.  To take advantage of this special fare, visit www.southwest.com.

In February, Congress passed legislation creating "slot exemptions" at DCA authorizing four new flights to points beyond the airport's normal 1,250 mile perimeter. Less than two weeks ago, the Department of Transportation (DOT) awarded Southwest one of these slot pairs to provide the first and only nonstop service on the DCA-AUS route.

Currently, AirTran Airways, a wholly owned subsidiary of Southwest Airlines, operates 12 daily DCA flights that will be transitioned to Southwest as the integration of the two carriers continues throughout the next couple of years. Southwest already has a large footprint in the greater Washington D.C. metropolitan area with its service at Baltimore/Washington International Airport (BWI) and Dulles International Airport (IAD), but this will be Southwest's first service to Reagan National Airport, which is uniquely situated in close proximity to the Nation's Capital and downtown DC business district
 
Southwest Airlines continues to differentiate itself from other low-fare carriers — offering a reliable product with exemplary Customer Service. Southwest Airlines is the nation's largest carrier in terms of originating domestic passengers boarded and has acquired AirTran Airways, now a wholly owned subsidiary of Southwest Airlines Co. Southwest serves 73 cities in 38 states and remains one of the most honored airlines in the world known for its commitment to the triple bottom line of Performance, People, and Planet. To read more about how Southwest is doing its part to be a good citizen, visit southwest.com/cares to read the Southwest Airlines One Report™. Based in Dallas, Southwest currently operates more than 3,300 flights a day and has more than 39,000 Employees.