Southwest Airlines celebrates its 5th anniversary, proving that their “love for Aruba is still their field!

Aruba Airport Authority N.V. (AAA) was delighted to host the Southwest Airlines’ staff with e breakfast celebration in honor of Southwest Airlines’ 5th anniversary providing roundtrip service to Aruba.

It was on July 1st, 2014 that Southwest Airlines launched their first inaugural flight from Baltimore (BWI) to Aruba. With this acquisition Aruba Airport opened up the possibilities for connections from other destinations and markets in the US.

Southwest Airlines marked history on March 7, 2015 as they launched the first international flight out of Houston-Hobby Airport (HOU) to Aruba. Current service to HOU is once a week on Saturdays. As part of Southwest's network plans, BWI-AUA and MCO-AUA services were increased to daily flights.

Southwest currently operates daily non-stop flights from Baltimore/Washington International Thurgood Marshall Airport and Fort Lauderdale-Hollywood International Airport and seasonal service from Houston William P. Hobby Airport to Queen Beatrix International Airport (AUA).

During the last 5 years, Southwest Airlines was not only able to establish successful point-to-point-traffic, but also made it possible for many international guests to use this popular route to travel to Aruba.

“In 2018 our valued airline partner provided 84.849 passengers the opportunity to travel to and from Aruba. Year to date (May 2019) our reliable airline-partner transported nearly 35.000 passengers with a rising trend. 5 Years have already flown by making the relationship stronger between the airline and Aruba Airport. We look forward to reinforce and further develop the partnership that will ultimately benefit our passengers and destination. On behalf of AAA, I am honored to congratulate the Southwest Airlines team on the occasion of its 5th anniversary providing service to Aruba. We look forward to working closer together in the years to come to achieve common objectives. We are grateful to the Southwest team and encourage them to continue providing great service to our passengers. Pabien!” said AAA Air Service Development Manager Mrs. Jo-Anne Meaux-Arends.

Southwest’s successful low-cost model is made possible by being a very productive, reliable and efficient airline. All combined, makes their point-to-point route system, frequent flights, careful airport selection, single aircraft type, high asset utilization, fuel conservation and hedging programs with high employee productivity produce a very safe, efficient and cost-effective operation that serves as the foundation of the business model and key driver of the airline’s 45 years of consecutive profitability.