Southwest Airlines Announces STL as International Gateway

Southwest Airlines has announced St. Louis Lambert International Airport (STL) will become its next international gateway with new service to Cancun, Mexico (CUN).

Southwest, in releasing its November through January 2018 operating schedule, set a start date for the Saturday round trip service between STL and CUN for November 11. The Airline has not released schedules beyond January 2018. See details here.

STL will be just one of 15 airports with international service on Southwest.

"There's been great growth and demand on Southwest in recent years and we're excited for this continued momentum with the addition of new international service," said Airport Director Rhonda Hamm-Niebruegge. "With the airline’s great connectivity now to 44 domestic markets, we're optimistic this new flight will do well for both local and connecting travelers."

Southwest operates flights out of Terminal 2, which is also the designated location for customs and international arrivals. The Airport has been working with Southwest to renovate and re-open a 4-gate section (E34-E40) in Terminal 2, which will open in mid-June. Southwest is expected to immediately operate flights utilizing three of those new gates, adding to its other 13 gates. Southwest will operate nearly 110 daily departures from St. Louis this summer. That includes new service to Pensacola, FL (PNS) and Charleston, SC (CHS) beginning June 4.

Southwest also announced its November schedule will include an additional daily flight between St. Louis and both Fort Lauderdale, FL (FLL) and Milwaukee, WI (MKE), bringing frequency up to two daily flights to those cities.