Boise Airport to offer more flights this fall, including popular California destination
This fall, the Boise Airport will bring back a nonstop flight to the Midwest, while also adding a brand new route to Southern California.
Starting Sept. 9, Southwest Airlines will reintroduce its direct flight to Chicago-Midway, rejoining Alaska Airlines and United Airlines to offer service to and from Illinois. The other two air carriers fly through Chicago’s O’Hare International Airport.
The seasonal route will fly once each way on Saturdays, Dan Landson, a Southwest spokesperson, told the Idaho Statesman by email.
Then, on Oct. 7, Southwest will offer a new nonstop route at the airport, to and from Long Beach, California. That now gives Boise travelers options to six different Southern California cities, after adding a flight to Burbank in Los Angeles County last year. Alaska and low-cost carrier Avelo Airlines each provide service between Boise and Burbank.
“After a record-breaking year for passenger travel here at the Boise Airport, we are happy to see service grow with Southwest this fall,” Shawna Samuelson, an airport spokesperson, said by email. “Adding new nonstop service to Long Beach, California, and restoring service to Chicago-Midway ultimately provides our passengers more choice.”
The nonstop Long Beach flight is a permanent route that will operate on Saturdays and Sundays, according to a news release from the Dallas-based airline that included the announcement. The twice-weekly service makes Southwest eligible for financial incentives from the airport, including marketing dollars and discounted fees, Samuelson said.
“We are continually listening and designing schedules to meet the needs of our local travelers,” Landson told the Statesman. “These routes bring more opportunities to reach more destinations throughout our expansive network as well as allow customers easier access to enjoy all the wonderful things that the Boise area offers.”
The planned additions will increase Southwest’s presence at the regional air hub to nine nonstop routes, keeping it firmly in the No. 2 slot behind Alaska Airlines as the airport’s dominant commercial air carrier.
Chicago-Midway’s return and the launch of service to Long Beach also will boost the Boise Airport’s total nonstop destinations to 26, including a winter route to Palm Beach, California. That flight, aboard Alaska, is set to conclude for the season on April 16.
In addition, Alaska is set to restart nonstop route between Boise and Austin starting on June 15. The flight will begin with flights four times a week before shifting to daily service in mid-August.
The Boise Airport recorded its busiest travel year on record in 2022, with nearly 4.5 million passengers. Last year’s total amount to about a 25% increase in passenger totals from the 2021, which was still impacted by pandemic travel declines.
