Southwest Airlines’ New 6-Hour Flight Isn’t To Alaska

You will know by now that Southwest Airlines will begin flying to Alaska next May. It will initially do so from Denver and Las Vegas, which are among the carrier’s top transit airports for passengers to fly across the United States.

Multiple aspects of Southwest’s product and operations have changed recently. Flying to Alaska is one of the more significant changes to its network in recent times. It’ll compete directly with Alaska Airlines from Las Vegas and Alaska and United from Denver.

Southwest’s 10 Longest Flights List Gets New Entry

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The following table is based on Southwest’s known routes for June 2026. While far away, this month was chosen as several of its new routes, including Boston to San Diego and those to Anchorage, will be operational. As this article was researched on October 10, it provides a snapshot of what is currently known.

5h 55m is the minimum time listed in the table. Given this, neither of Southwest’s upcoming Anchorage routes is long enough to feature. Las Vegas to Alaska’s most populous city is timed at up to 5h 25m, while Denver to Anchorage is up to 5h 30m. To increase connectivity, flights will operate overnight back to Nevada and Colorado. Various other Southwest markets across its network are blocked at 5h 30m to 5h 50m, but they were also insufficiently long to have made the table.

An International Route Is In The Top 10…

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Cirium Diio data shows that Denver has more Southwest flights than any other airport in its network. However, it ‘only’ ranks fifth—behind Houston Hobby, Orlando, Baltimore, and Phoenix—for international activity.

Southwest has served Denver-San José since March 2023. The market, which covers 2,095 nautical miles (3,880 km) each way, runs year-round. Next May, flights will only operate on Saturdays, just as they did in that month in 2025. However, Saturday and Sunday services were available in May 2024.

The Boeing 737 MAX 8 that’ll operate from Denver will remain overnight in Costa Rica and fly to Orlando on Sunday. The aircraft from San José to Denver will originate in either Baltimore or Houston Hobby.

According to the US Department of Transportation data for the 12 months to June 2025, Southwest transported 14,151 round-trip passengers between the two cities and filled 91% of seats. While it was the airline’s second-smallest international market from Denver, it had the highest load factor. As always, this is just one performance indicator.

A Look At Southwest Between Phoenix & Honolulu

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At 2,535 nautical miles (4,695 km) and timed at up to 6h 35m, Phoenix-Honolulu is Southwest’s longest route in both senses. Flights will run daily in May, just as they have in every May since the market joined the carrier’s map. Depending on the day, flights will leave Arizona at 08:45/09:55, arrive in Hawaii at 12:15/13:20, leave at 20:55/21:05, and get back at 06:00+1/06:10+1.

In the 12 months to June 2025, it filled 95% of Phoenix-Honolulu seats. About one in four passengers were local, with the rest connecting to another Southwest flight at either airport. It was its joint-highest-performing Honolulu route load-wise, but the usual caveats apply.