Southwest Airlines Announces New Ski Routes for the Upcoming 2025-26 Season

Nationwide carrier Southwest Airlines has announced new, ski-oriented destinations for the upcoming winter of 2025-26. New destinations will include cities both in the Pacific Northwest and the Intermountain West. The city of origin that will benefit the most from the new additions is sunny San Diego, California. The San Diego International Airport (SAN) is currently undergoing a major 3.8 billion redevelopment project called the “New T1” which will replace the existing Terminal 1 with a modern, expanded facility that will serve as the new home of Southwest Airlines San Diego operations.

• Related: Alaska Airlines to Add New Nonsstop Flights to World-Class Ski Destinations for Winter 2025-26

Southwest’s new year round ski destinations from San Diego will include several nonstop flights to the stunning Pacific Northwest. New routes include flights to Seattle, WA (SEA), Portland, OR (PDX) and Eugene, OR (EUG). These new routes will provide convenient access to local ski areas such as Stevens Pass, and Crystal Mountain in Washington, as well as Mt. Hood Meadows and Mt. Bachelor ski resorts in Oregon. Southwest generous bag policy allows two free checked bags for most passengers, and passengers can substitute one of these free checked bags with ski or snowboard equipment at no charge. 

• Related: Alaska Airlines Expands Winter Access to Ski Destinations With 7 New West Coast Routes

Spring break destinations from San Diego will begin on March 7, 2026. Nonstop Saturday flights to ski destinations of Bozeman (BZN) and Spokane (GEG) will be added with weekly service. These spring destinations will allow skiers access to Bridger Bowl Ski area in Montana and Mount Spokane Ski and Snowboard Park in eastern Washington.

In addition to the new routes, Southwest will continue to offer existing service from San Diego to other winter recreation areas near Albuquerque, Boise, Denver, Reno, and Salt Lake City. While new San Diego expansions are the primary focus of the new Southwest expansion, Austin (AUS) is also getting its own new winter destination. In a press release with local Austin news network KXAN, “Saturday-only service to Fort Myers, Florida, and Steamboat Springs, Colorado, will both begin March 7, 2026 connecting our customers in Austin to popular Spring Break destinations in the mountains and on the beach,” an airline spokesperson stated.

These new destinations look to provide a quick and easy escape to the mountains for both San Diegans and Austenite’s. With continued route expansion across the western U.S., Southwest looks to be positioning itself as a prime carrier for skiers and snowboarders coming into the 2025-26 season.