Southwest Airlines to Offer New Nonstop Costa Rica Flight from Baltimore

Southwest Airlines has recently announced plans to launch flights to Central America. This will be the first time that the US-based airlines will offer flights to Central America. Headquartered in Dallas, Texas, the airline has stated that it has already applied to receive permission to make flights to San Jose, Costa Rica, from Baltimore. If approved, the flights will begin in early March of next year.

The airline's first international flights were launched in early July. By the end of the year, Southwest will be offering seven flights outside the United States as part of the company's merger with partner AirTran Airways.

Along with the airline's first venture outside the Caribbean and Mexico, Southwest's Costa Rican flights will represent the airline's first international destination that has not been served by partner AirTran.

Adding flights to Costa Rica is certainly a strong move for the airline, as the Central American country has increasingly become a favored getaway destination for Americans. The airline's CEO has stated that plans are underway to extend the value for which Southwest is known in the US to customers who wish to travel to international destinations. The airline has developed a significant presence in the Baltimore/Washington region that offers a natural launching point for bringing nonstop access to international destinations.

Southwest first ventured into the Baltimore market in 1993. Since then, Southwest has expanded to become the biggest airline in that market. According to the application that Southwest recently filed with the U.S. Department of Transportation, the airline is the largest in the country in terms of domestic passengers, offering more service at BWI than any other airline carrier by a significant margin. Southwest and AirTran handled more than 70 percent of passengers in Baltimore in 2008, representing a total of 22.5 million passengers. The next largest airline was Delta Air Lines, carrying less than 10 percent of BWI's passengers.

Currently, Southwest offers 204 daily flights to 60 cities. Southwest went on to add that their proposed new international services will offer the only scheduled nonstop flights from BWI to Costa Rica.

Additionally, the proposed new service will provide none-stop connective options for passengers in both small and medium sized cities, such as Hartford, Buffalo, Albany, Manchester, Rochester, and Providence.

Customers based in Dallas are will be able to travel to Costa Rica by taking a nonstop flight to Baltimore and then catching a flight from Baltimore to San Jose. While the flight is a lengthy one, it is not the longest flight offered by the Southwest network. The airline also offers a Baltimore to Los Angeles run that clocks in at 2,320 miles, while the Baltimore to Costa Rica flight will only be 2,070 miles.