The international market is only a tiny part of Southwest Airlines’ vast operation. From July until the end of the year, the carrier plans an average of 42 daily departures beyond the US shore. Just 1% of the self-described hybrid operator’s services will operate outside the country.

Southwest’s schedule submission to OAG shows that 71 international routes are planned through December. They include eight additional links, as discussed in this article. They have contributed to Southwest’s foreign operations increasing by 5% year-over-year, which is twice the rate of the considerably larger domestic market. It is not a like-for-like comparison.

These Eight International Routes Have Joined Southwest’s Map

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Southwest’s international network between July and December 2025 was compared to what is available from July to December 2026. This process identified that the following eight airport pairs have launched or will do so. This reflects what is known as of July 7. Other changes might materialize before the year ends.

This is only one part of the picture. In the same period, seven international links were removed. They include flights from Chicago O’Hare International Airport (ORD) to Cancun International Airport (CUN) and City of Colorado Springs Municipal Airport (COS) to CUN. Southwest has entirely pulled out of ORD, while CUN was the first and only international market from COS. The carrier’s international network has therefore only increased by a net of one route in a year.

Southwest Finally Flies Internationally From LAS

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When Southwest’s domestic and international network is considered, LAS is the airline’s second most-served airport by flights, after Denver International Airport (DEN). It is therefore perhaps surprising that the increasingly evolving carrier has not flown internationally from LAS until now.

The four international leisure markets, all of which are now unserved or have not had nonstop flights in the past, have reasonably good existing local LAS traffic. Booking data for the 12 months to April 2026 shows that they had round-trip passenger traffic of between 33,000 (San José) and 120,000 (CUN). Southwest’s entry will increase all these numbers, with stimulating demand usually being critical.

Of course, an important role of LAS is to funnel passengers across the carrier’s considerable network. Until now, multiple other airports across the US have been used for the airline’s international connectivity. To a degree, it depends on the direction traveled, although each stopover airport offers more choice, connectivity, and helps build market share. It all adds to the total pie.

A Look Southwest From LAS To Costa Rica

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Covering 2,297 nautical miles (4,254 km) each way, this brand-new route will be Southwest’s longest-ever international operation. And with a maximum block time of up to six hours and ten minutes, it’ll rank number one by this measure too. WN102 will leave Nevada at 11:35 PM and arrive in Central America at 7:00 AM local time. Returning, WN104 will mainly depart at 1:20 PM and return to LAS at 5:25 PM local time.

With a daily operation, connectivity will be critical in helping to achieve consistently high loads. Based on a maximum three-hour wait in LAS in both directions and flying no more than 30% more than a theoretical nonstop flight to/from San Jose would be, Southwest passengers will be able to connect to/from 11 US airports.

They are all on the West Coast or not far from it, and had over 280,000 passengers. Connectivity will grow by increasing the wait time or how far out of the way to fly. But it’ll result in a longer and less competitive offer. In addition to LAS, Southwest also serves San José from BWI, DEN, Houston Hobby Airport (HOU), and MCO. Clearly, the new route from Nevada will help Southwest to better penetrate the West Coast market.