Southwest Airlines will launch daily jet service from the new Northwest Florida international airport near Panama City in the Northwest Florida Gulf Coast beginning in May 2010. The carrier will launch two daily nonstop flights from Northwest Florida to four destinations for a total of eight direct flights per day. Northwest Florida will be the first international airport to open in the nation in more than a decade.
"Southwest's arrival in Northwest Florida is expected to stimulate job growth, economic development, and give travelers more of the options they've been seeking," said Britt Greene, president and CEO of St. Joe, the largest landowner in Northwest Florida which owns hundreds of thousands of acres in the service area of the new airport site. "Southwest will help position Northwest Florida as one of America's leading beach destinations."
Coastal Vision 3000, the Bay County Tourism Development Council, the South Walton Tourism Development Council and the Panama City - Bay County International Airport and Industrial District worked with Southwest and St. Joe to enable the new air service.
Additional St. Louis Service
Southwest also announced it will add nine flights to six new destinations from Lambert International Airport in St. Louis. The new flights are expected to begin by May 2010 and will be open for sale this December.
There will be two daily nonstop roundtrips from St. Louis to Nashville, TN and Los Angeles. In addition, the carrier will provide one daily nonstop roundtrip service from St. Louis to Raleigh/Durham, NC, Minneapolis, New Orleans, Seattle and San Diego.
Visit www.southwest.com.