Southwest Airlines announces Wichita flights
Southwest Airlines will begin service at Wichita's Mid-Continent Airport on June 2. Kansas Governor Sam Brownback made the announcement at a news conference Monday at the offices of the Wichita Metro Chamber of Commerce.
The governor announced in Wichita last January that Southwest would be providing service after its purchase in 2011 of AirTran Airways. The governor returned to Wichita with Senator Jerry Moran, Congressman Mike Pompeo, Wichita Mayor Carl Brewer and Sedgwick County commissioner Dave Unruh to announce the specific details on Southwest flights.
Southwest vice president for airport affairs Bob Montgomery talked about the lengthy discussions on bringing service to Wichita. He said it has been a long wait, and Southwest is going to do its best to make sure it was worth the wait.
Montgomery said the airline industry has been tough in recent years, and that has accounted for the delay in starting service to Wichita. He said state and community leaders developed a relationship with the airline and continuously talked about the benefits of Kansas and the benefits of Wichita, and that was the deciding factor.
Southwest will provide five flights a day to and from Wichita with Boeing 737 aircraft. One flight will be to Las Vegas, two flights to Dallas and two flights to Chicago. The AirTran operations at Mid-Continent Airport will convert to Southwest.
The current flights to Atlanta will discontinue in June.
To celebrate the new service, Southwest is offering a sale of $89 one way between Wichita and Dallas Love Field, and $109 one way to Chicago Midway and Las Vegas. The sale will be available through Nov. 25 and the flights can be booked through the airline's website.
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