Southwest Airlines gets right to fly Houston Hobby-Washington National route

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By Terry Maxon
tmaxon@dallasnews.com
9:52 am on May 7, 2013 | Permalink

The U.S. Department of Transportation has given Southwest Airlines the right to fly from Houston Hobby Airport to Ronald Reagan Washington National Airport, the first flights between those two airports, the DOT said Tuesday.

“Southwest’s service will provide air travelers with a new, low-cost option when they fly between Reagan National and Houston,” U.S. Transportation Secretary Ray LaHood said.

Southwest spokesman Brad Hawkins called the new route “another important plank in our platform of building up the Houston market,” along with new service to other cities and construction of an international terminal set to open in 2015.

Houston is “an original angle on the Texas triangle and it’s continuing to position us for future opportunities,” Hawkins said.

The two Washington National operating slots — good for one takeoff and one landing — became available when Spirit Airlines dropped its Fort Lauderdale, Fla., service to Washington National and moved its service to Baltimore.

In winning the slots, Southwest beat out US Airways, which had applied for the right to fly from Oklahoma City to Washington National, and JetBlue Airways, which had sought rights to fly Jacksonville, Fla.-Washington National.

Houston currently has service into Washington National from George Bush Houston Intercontinental Airport, flown by United Airlines in a route it inherited in the Continental Airlines merger.

Southwest must begin the service by Aug. 5, the department said.

http://aviationblog.dallasnews.com/2013/05/southwest-airlines-gets-right-to-fly-houston-hobby-washington-national-route.html/