The growth in destinations and passenger numbers continues at William P. Hobby Airport (HOU), with the announcement from Southwest Airlines of two new non-stop flights and growing service to other markets at its Houston-based hub.
Beginning Oct. 3, Southwest will offer daily non-stop service from Hobby Airport to John Glenn International in Columbus, Ohio, and Louisville International in Louisville, Ky. This adds to the recent announcement of daily non-stop to Milwaukee’s General Mitchell International Airport, which began today, and service to Grand Cayman, Cayman Islands starting in June.
Starting in October, Southwest will expand its daily service to Baltimore Washington International from Hobby Airport to four flights per day, and increase its daily non-stops from Hobby to Las Vegas to five flights per day.
Last year, Southwest also expanded its daily flights scheduled from Hobby to Phoenix, Oakland, LaGuardia Airport in New York, Orlando and Mexico City.
“We are truly excited by this announcement today and the continued commitment to growth and excellence from a valuable partner like Southwest Airlines,” said Liliana Rambo, General Manager for Hobby Airport. “Working together, this ongoing partnership is driving Hobby Airport to new heights, helping our airport in its efforts to provide great service to our passengers, and to ultimately elevate our 4-star airport into the 5-star facility we’re aiming for and that our city and customers deserve.”
Southwest’s commitment to Hobby Airport, and its growing service to the 10 international destinations throughout Mexico, Latin America and the Caribbean, is a big reason why Hobby Airport served more than 13 million passengers for the first time ever in 2017. In fact, at 13,435,672, Hobby saw an increase of 4.1 percent over the record-setting 12.9 million passengers that passed through Hobby in 2016. In the past 10 years, passenger numbers at Hobby have grown more than 52 percent, from more than 8.8 million in 2007.