Jet-setters can add to their 2026 travel itineraries with newly announced flight routes from two of the United States’ biggest carriers.
Southwest Airlines has a slew of flight routes scheduled to debut during the first six months of 2026. Domestically, the carrier will launch flights in April between Santa Rosa, California, and San Diego and Burbank, as well as Las Vegas, Nevada, and Denver, Colorado. In June, Southwest is also launching service between San Diego and Boston. Moreover, the airline will add Alaska’s Ted Stevens Anchorage International Airport to its network, making the state the 43rd of 50 states in the carrier’s domestic network.
Southwest is additionally launching direct service between Las Vegas and Cancun, as well as connecting flights to and from two other Mexican hotspots – Puerto Vallarta and Los Cabos. According to the airline, new routes to Knoxville, Tennessee, St. Thomas in the U.S. Virgin Islands, and St. Maarten are also set to begin in early 2026.
Regarding United Airlines, the carrier is launching nonstop routes between four European destinations and Newark Liberty International Airport in New Jersey. The destinations are Split, Croatia; Bari, Italy; Glasgow, Scotland; and Santiago de Compostela, Spain. Each route has its own launch date, but the rollout begins at the end of April 2026. United is additionally launching a new flight route between the Washington, D.C. area and Reykjavik, Iceland, starting next May. In early September, United will also launch a route between Newark and Seoul, South Korea.
What Else Should Travelers Anticipate For 2026 Travel With United And Southwest?
Summer 2026 is gearing up to be filled with new flight routes for travelers to go to and from some of the most desired vacation destinations in the world.
Adam Decaire is Southwest’s Senior Vice President of Network Planning and Network Operations Control. He said, “In designing our summer 2026 schedule, we examined industry trends and identified locations – like Las Vegas, Orlando, and San Diego – where we are able to provide customers more choices when they’re booking travel… Additionally, we’re boosting service in locations where we’ve always had a strong presence to offer customers even more service than ever before in those cities.”
United’s Senior Vice President of Global Network Planning and Alliances, Patrick Quayle, noted the carrier “has an unmatched international network.”
“And we pride ourselves on connecting our customers to unique, trendsetting destinations no other U.S. airline serves,” Quayle continued. “With the addition of these new flights and the return of all of our new routes from last year, United now flies to 46 cities across the Atlantic – more than any other airline – and is the clear flag carrier of the U.S.”
