Summary
- Southwest flies to Jamaica from 7 cities across the United States.
- These cities are mostly situated in the Midwest, South, and Middle Atlantic states.
Table of Contents
Southwest Airlines has been increasing its presence in the Caribbean by offering more flights to many of the popular vacation spots the region has to offer.
One of these vacation destinations is Jamaica.
Being one of America’s more popular low cost airlines, Southwest provides travelers with many options for nonstop direct flights to Jamaica from many of the area’s most popular airports.
In this guide, we’ll break down where in Jamaica Southwest Airlines flies to and cover all the departure cities across the United States that Southwest currently offers direct flights to Jamaica from.
Where in Jamaica Southwest Airlines Flies To?
The island of Jamaica has three international airports that airlines and their passengers utilize. In Montego Bay, there is Sangster International Airport.
The city of Kingston has Norman Manley International Airport. Finally, there is the less utilized Ian Fleming International Airport in Boscobel, Saint Mary Parish.
Southwest Airlines flies into only Montego Bay just like the majority of U.S air carriers. Montego Bay is the more popular tourist destination while Kingston is the business “capital” of the island which likely gets much more business travel.
Montego Bay – Sangster International Airport
Sangster International Airport is Jamaica’s busiest airport. It also serves as the 4th busiest airport in the Caribbean accounting over 5 million passengers per year.
In U.S air carriers in competition with Southwest Airlines as Sangster include American Airlines, Delta Air Lines, Frontier Airlines, JetBlue Airways, Spirit Airlines, and Sun Country Airlines.
Where in the United States Southwest Airlines Offers Nonstop Flights to Jamaica?
Southwest Airlines currently offers flights to Montego Bay, Jamaica from seven cities throughout the United States. They are as follows: Chicago, Baltimore, Orlando, Fort Lauderdale, St.Louis, Kansas City, and Houston.
Nationwide coverage for this route is mainly confined to the Midwest, the South, and Middle Atlantic states on the east coast. Southwest doesn’t offer any transcontinental flights from the West Coast to Jamaica meaning those passengers will have to find a connecting flight.
Chicago
The Great Lakes region of the Midwest can find Southwest flights down to Montego Bay, Jamaica from Midway International Airport just outside of Chicago.
Southwest Airlines is the primary airline found at this airport totaling over 90% of the airline market share. Passengers will have no problem finding a connection to Chicago as most Southwest destinations have a connection that leads to Chicago.
The airline offers this flight once a day, all year round. The demand for the flight to Jamaica peaks during the winter as cold weather weary Chicagoans look to vacation somewhere warmer.
Baltimore
The Middle Atlantic states found on America’s East Coast are served with flights to Jamaica through Southwest’s base in Baltimore, Maryland. Southwest flies out of Baltimore/Washington International Thurgood Marshall Airport.
Southwest maintains a large presence in Baltimore accounting for nearly 71% of the passenger share at the airport in 2023.
From Baltimore, Southwest offers flights to Montego Bay twice a day every day of the week. There is a larger demand for this route from Baltimore because it has to serve as the gateway for the entire Northeast since the airline doesn’t offer flights from anywhere else in the Northeast.
Passengers from northern states will have to catch a connection and fly down to Baltimore to find a nonstop flight to Jamaica. With Baltimore being a large base for Southwest, those passengers won’t have a problem finding a connection as almost every airport that Southwest flies to in the region has a flight connection to Baltimore.
However, with the flight being offered once a day, the overall demand for this route must be average. Southwest does offer a laundry list of warm weather destinations from BWI considering the airport is a major operation base for the airline. Passengers have many options at their disposal in addition to flights to Jamaica.
Orlando
Orlando, Florida is one of two Floridian cities that Southwest Airlines offers flights to Montego Bay, Jamaica. Southwest flies out of Orlando International Airport where it owns a majority market share, however not as large as Baltimore and Chicago.
For passengers that need to catch a connection and don’t like staying on airplanes for a long time, catching a connecting flight from Orlando to Montego Bay might be a great option for you. The flight from Orlando to Jamaica is only a two hour flight.
Southwest offers this route all year round, twice a day. This is quite surprising considering that Orlando is also a warm weather vacation destination. But considering Florida’s large senior citizen population or snowbirds, offering a route to Jamaica would make sense from Orlando. Primarily for those seniors who might be seeking a change of pace without sacrificing the warm weather.
Fort Lauderdale
Southwest’s second Floridian city that has flights to Montego Bay is Fort Lauderdale. The airline uses Fort Lauderdale-Hollywood International Airport. One thing to note is that Southwest is not the primary airline in Fort Lauderdale, but rather a middle of the pack airline in terms of passenger market share.
Unlike the other departure cities listed, the route between Fort Lauderdale and Montego Bay isn’t offered nearly as much. You can expect this route to be flown once a day, only a few times a week.
This likely has to do with Fort Lauderdale being a secondary Florida market for Southwest. However, Fort Lauderdale mainly serves as the airline’s primary international departure city. With Jamaica being an international country it makes sense that this airport would have the route. But there have been rumors that the airline may shift their international travel back to Orlando.
St.Louis
Another Midwest departure city with a route to Montego Bay Jamaica is St.Louis. Southwest Airlines flies out of St. Louis Lambert International Airport where it owns a 62% market share of all of the airport’s airline operations.
With Chicago serving folks near the Great Lakes region of the Midwest, St.Louis serves the heart of America. However, with Kansas City being another Midwest departure city for the airline, there is some cannibalization of the Midwest market for the route to Montego Bay.
Likely due to this cannibalization, St.Louis is another one of those departure cities that see a limited amount of flights per week. The days they do fly, the route frequency gets relegated to only once per day.
However, for travelers from the west, St.Louis is a great connection point if flights to Kansas City are found to be few and far between.
Kansas City
Kansas City is the other Midwestern departure city that has flights to Montego Bay. Southwest flies out of Kansas City International Airport.
As already mentioned, there are two midwest cities located fairly close to each other offering flights to Jamaica. According to overall market share, it seems that St.Louis is the more preferred airport for Southwest travelers as it holds a larger share than Kansas City.
With that said, flights to Jamaica from Kansas are also limited to only a few times a week, once a day.
Houston
The state of Texas is served with flights to Montego Bay, Jamaica via Houston. The airline uses Houston’s William P.Hobby International Airport for its flights.
Southwest only offers the flight to Montego Bay once per day, however this flight is more consistent as it is offered just about every day of the week.
Houston is also a very strong departure city for Southwest. The airline offers the routes into and from the airport compared to competing airlines. Travelers from the Southwestern states can look to use Houston William P. Hobby are connecting airports to flights to Jamaica.
Also, for local travelers, having Jamaica on the schedule is a great alternative vacation destination. The bulk of the international travel from this airport are to resort destinations across Mexico. Having a warm weather tropical destination like Montego Bay on the docket for travelers provides them with a welcomed change of scenery.
What Aircraft Does Southwest Airlines use for Flights to Jamaica
Southwest is known for flying their Boeing 737 aircraft. Their fleet has historically been composed of Boeing 737s. So you can’t expect to fly on anything different to Jamaica anytime soon.
However, the how new the aircraft you will be flying on will depend on the 737 variant the airline schedules on your trip.
Southwest Boeing 737-800 and Boeing 737 Max 8
Southwest’s older airframe being used on flights to Jamaica is the 737-800. The 737-800 is part of Boeing’s NG or Next Generation aircraft that was ushered into service during the mid 2000s. The other aircraft type is the Boeing 737 Max 8 which is now being produced by Boeing and being rolled into the Southwest fleet.
A passenger will likely won’t be able to determine the difference between the two aircraft types through an eyeball test. However, Boeing 737 Max 8 is built with quieter engines. On takeoff, you will likely know that you’re flying on a Max 8 because the engine noise would be greatly reduced compared to a standard Boeing 737-800.
Other differences between these two variants are strictly performance. Those new engines found on the Max 8 are more powerful and fuel efficient allowing the Max 8 to fly a little bit farther than the -800.
Both variants are configured to hold 175 passengers in Southwest’s one-class seating configuration. Each of these aircraft carry WIFI and most accommodations you would likely find on a major domestic airline in the United States.
If you want to learn more about the Southwest’s Boeing 737 Max 8, check out our guide here.
Sources
https://www.flightconnections.com/route-map-southwest-airlines-wn
https://www.caribjournal.com/2024/02/14/southwest-airlines-cancun-montego-bay-relaunching-flightsc
https://wtop.com/business-finance/2023/08/southwest-airlines-adds-another-bwi-caribbean-route
