New Flight Routes Taking Off This Spring

The loosening of COVID-19 travel restrictions and the arrival of warmer weather promise to make this year's spring break travel period far busier than 2020, and airlines are preparing for travelers' pent-up demand to get away by introducing a handful of new domestic and international routes in the coming weeks. Here are some of the notable new routes travelers can look forward to this spring.

Alaska Airlines will launch daily, nonstop service between Los Angeles and Austin on March 18 before increasing to three daily departures on May 20. Meanwhile, the airline will start daily, nonstop service between San Diego and New York via John F. Kennedy International Airport beginning on April 4. Alaska will also launch year-round service between Anchorage and Las Vegas (Thursday-Sunday) starting May 20.

Allegiant Air is prepared to introduce a plethora of new routes this spring, including three new destinations from Portland, Oregon to Santa Maria and Monterey, California and Idaho Falls, Idaho. Portland-Santa Maria will launch April 15 while the latter two routes will begin May 28. Allegiant will also launch service from Illinois' General Wayne A. Downing Peoria International Airport to Sarasota, Florida and Denver starting May 27 and May 28, respectively. Other notable routes coming available on the ultra-low-cost carrier this spring include Boston-Grand Rapids, Michigan (March 5); Charleston, South Carolina-Belleville, Illinois/St. Louis (May 28); Baltimore-Punta Gorda, Florida (May 27); Louisville-Charleston (May 28) and Hudson Valley, New York via New York Stewart International Airport-Savannah, Georgia (May 26).

American Airlines has some notable international flights getting underway this spring. The carrier will begin operating flights between Fort Lauderdale, Florida and Port-au-Prince, Haiti on April 2. Meanwhile, on May 6, American will launch three new daily routes from New York via JFK to Colombia-Cali, Bogota and Medellin-and will begin flying three times per week between New York (JFK) and Santiago, Chile.

Delta Air Lines, the only major U.S. carrier limiting capacity to keep middle seats open this spring, will add a handful of new routes in the coming weeks, including twice-daily flights between Los Angeles and Houston (Bush) and thrice-daily service between L.A. and Oakland beginning April 12. Delta will also boost frequency between L.A. and Orlando to an average of four-daily flights in each direction and increase frequency between L.A. and popular spring destinations such as Nashville and Tampa this coming April. The airline is also adding five new routes from its hub in Minneapolis-St. Paul to beloved leisure destinations like Myrtle Beach, South Carolina; Portland, Maine; Providence, Rhode Island; Savannah/Hilton Head and Traverse City, Michigan.

Frontier Airlines will ramp up its presence at Orlando International Airport this spring, offering 60 nonstop routes via Orlando, which is the most of any airline. This month, Frontier has started service between Orlando and St. Thomas, USVI; Cancun, Mexico; Santo Domingo, Dominican Republic; Miami and Wilmington, Delaware. Frontier will begin daily nonstop flights between Orlando and Phoenix in March. The ultra-low-cost carrier will also launch a twice-weekly service between Miami and St. Thomas on Sundays and Thursdays beginning March 7.

JetBlue also has big plans for spring 2021. Starting March 4, the airline will offer service to Cancun, Mexico from Austin, Las Vegas, Nashville and Sacramento. JetBlue will also connect the West Coast and Southeast via new routes such as Los Angeles-Jacksonville, Florida and Raleigh, North Carolina-Las Vegas and San Francisco. Beginning April 15, JetBlue will launch its highly anticipated service between New York via JFK Airport and Guatemala City. Click here to view JetBlue's newest routes based on region.

Southwest Airlines will be busy this spring, starting daily nonstop service between Long Beach, California and Honolulu, Dallas (Love Field), Houston (Hobby), Chicago (Midway), Reno and St. Louis beginning on March 11. Also effective March 11, the low-cost carrier will offer twice-daily nonstop service between Miami and Nashville as well as twice-daily service between Miami and Denver and once-daily nonstop service between Phoenix and Cancun. What's more, Southwest will resume daily nonstop service between Houston (Hobby) and Cozumel, Mexico and between both Houston (Hobby) and Chicago (Midway) and Montego Bay, Jamaica and weekly Saturday service between both Columbus, Ohio and San Antonio and Cancun on March 11. Beginning March 13, Southwest will offer weekly Saturday service between Sarasota/Bradenton, Florida and Columbus, Indianapolis and Pittsburgh. Meanwhile, starting April 12, Southwest will offer nonstop flights between Houston (Bush) and Chicago (Midway), Dallas (Love Field), Denver, Nashville and New Orleans.

Budget-friendly Spirit Airlines will begin service between Louisville and a handful of popular warm-weather destinations in Florida and the West Coast, including Fort Lauderdale, Orlando, Las Vegas and Los Angeles starting May 27. Spirit's new route to LAX will be the only nonstop option from Louisville.

United Airlines is expanding its service between New York via Newark Liberty International Airport and Johannesburg, South Africa to offer daily nonstop flights beginning this spring. United also plans to initiate nonstop flights from Washington, D.C. via Dulles International Airport to Accra, Ghana and Lagos, Nigeria in the next two months.