Southwest Airlines has quietly become one of the more interesting ways to reach the sun from middle America. The Dallas-based carrier, still best known for domestic hops and its Boeing 737 fleet of more than 800 aircraft, is adding 11 new international nonstop routes between November 2026 and June 2027 — and nearly all of them are sole-operator routes, meaning no competition on the nonstop.

The biggest winner is Nashville. Southwest is deepening its investment in the country music capital with four new international routes in 2027: Liberia in Costa Rica from 13 February, Aruba from 13 March, then Nassau in the Bahamas and Providenciales in Turks and Caicos, both launching 5 June. Every one of these will be flown exclusively by Southwest, a notable vote of confidence in Nashville's booming mix of tourist and business traffic.

Austin gets its own quartet of additions. San José, Costa Rica starts 13 March 2027, followed on 5 June by Liberia, Punta Cana in the Dominican Republic and Nassau. Southwest already operates more than 40% of all flights at Austin Bergstrom and opened a permanent pilot and flight attendant crew base there in March. The expansion also dovetails with the airport's $4 billion growth plan — these four join an existing roster of 53 routes.

The remaining three routes spread the love further. Las Vegas picks up a nonstop to Puerto Vallarta from 1 November 2026, strengthening a network where Southwest already accounts for over 41.5% of operations at Harry Reid. Columbus and Pittsburgh both gain Punta Cana service — Columbus from 13 March 2027, Pittsburgh from 5 June — and these are the only two where Southwest faces a rival: Breeze Airways launches its own Punta Cana flights from both cities in January, so fares could get interesting.

For travellers outside the big coastal hubs, this is genuinely good news. Nonstop Caribbean and Costa Rica flights traditionally require a connection through Atlanta, Miami or Dallas. Now anyone living near Nashville, Austin, Columbus, Pittsburgh or Las Vegas can reach the beach — or the surf town of Puerto Vallarta, or the golf courses of Punta Cana — in one flight, on an airline whose two free checked bags and flexible change policy still set it apart among budget carriers. Booking windows for summer 2027 dates are worth watching, as launch fares on new sole-operator routes tend to be competitive early before the schedule fills.