Southwest to offer one-stop flights from Las Vegas to Mexico

HOUSTON — Southwest Airlines opens its new $146 million international terminal at Hobby Airport here, giving Las Vegans a new option for one-stop service to Mexico, Central America and the Caribbean.

The new terminal opens to customers on Oct. 15.

Southwest initially will fly to six destinations from Houston: Cancun, twice a day, Cabo San Lucas, Puerto Vallarta and Mexico City in Mexico; San Jose, Costa Rica; and, a new destination on the Southwest route map, Belize City, Belize.

On Nov. 2, flights to and from Liberia, Costa Rica; and Montego Bay, Jamaica, begin.

Workers were putting the finishing touches on the five-gate terminal on Thursday when the news media were invited for tours and to interview Southwest executives.

The new terminal is a separate concourse accessible from Southwest's domestic terminal at Hobby. International travelers arriving at Hobby won't have to pass through a second security checkpoint to get to their international gates.

Southwest offers four daily nonstop round trips between Las Vegas and Houston.

While there are five gates in the new terminal, Southwest only leases four of them and can use the fifth one if multiple flights arrive at the same time. Operations will start with eight daily departures, but that is expected to expand to 24 in the months ahead. Southwest officials said the terminal was built with expansion in mind and the number of gates could double when the need exists.

Southwest proposed building the international terminal in 2011 as part of its growth plans and the 16-member City Council unanimously approved its construction in 2012. Southwest underwrote the project and turned it over to the Houston Airport System.

Ground was broken in 2013 and when the facility opens next week, Houston will become the second U.S. city to have two international airports within its city limits.

Five retail vendors have leased space in the terminal, including a Southern Nevada favorite, Chick-fil-A. Other retail locations include Peet's Coffee, Yia Yia Mary's Pappas Greek Kitchen, Brookstone and Desigual.

The two-level 281,000-square-foot building has a U.S. Customs and Border Protection facility that can move 800 passengers an hour on the bottom floor. The Department of Homeland Security did not disclose the number of officers it will have when the facility opens.

International arrivals will park at the new terminal, but Southwest officials said departures would be able to leave from the domestic terminal. The new terminal can accommodate domestic arrivals as well as international flights.

In another media day announcement, Southwest unveiled a new advertising campaign, designed to go head-to-head with airlines with unbundled pricing strategies. The airline planned to debut the television spots during the National Football League broadcast of the game between the Houston Texans and the Indianapolis Colts on Thursday night.

The campaign introduces "transfarency," a criticism of rival airlines' baggage and ancillary fees.

Airline officials say they hope to educate potential customers about how their pricing differs from other carriers.

Contact reporter Richard N. Velotta at rvelotta@reviewjournal.com or 702-477-3893. Find @RickVelotta on Twitter.