Southwest Airlines begins service to Hawaii
Earlier this week, plucky budget carrier Southwest Airlines finally began selling tickets to my home state––Hawaii! In a statement, Southwest announced service to the Hawaiian islands of Oahu (Honolulu), Hawaii Island (Kona), Kauai (Lihue––shoutout to my hometown) and Maui (Kahului). Nonstop service to the Aloha State on Southwest begins with California cities including Oakland and San Jose with more information about flights from San Diego and Sacramento to be announced in the coming weeks.
Currently, reservations through June can be booked via the airline’s website.
Of course, you can still get to Hawaii from other Southwest gateways, but you’ll have to purchase separate, connecting flights if you want to fly Southwest. The airline continues to build out its schedule.
Southwest had this to say, as reported by USA Today, “As we continue to add service to Hawaii and increase some of our technical capabilities, we will only see more cities gain connections to the state.”
In the meantime, if you’re planning a trip to Hawaii, I’m resurfacing some of my favorite bylines to help inspire your time in the islands regardless if you’re flying Southwest or not:
- Perhaps the most insidery insiders guide to the island of Oahu is the guide I penned for New York magazine, wherein I interviewed more than 20 locals about everything from the hidden gems of Chinatown, to Honolulu’s best bars, surf breaks and ideas for what to do outside of Waikiki
- Across the state, one of the best features of Hawaii is its inimitable food scene, from local comforts to upscale farm (or sea)-to-fork cuisine, and you’ll find a ton of recommendations for what and where to eat at Salt & Wind, including how to choose a Hawaiian based on your food personality, immersive food experiences on each of the major islands, the slang words you need to know, and even an intro to Puerto Rican food in Hawaii (it is a thing)
- Speaking of food, I penned this essay for Food52 about the history of Hawaii explained through my favorite local breakfast, a platter of Portuguese sausage, eggs and rice
- Here on The Curious Passport, I’ve written about the best day on Kauai
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