More Flights to Florida As Airlines Bet Big On Leisure Travel

The airlines seem to be banking on the return of leisure travels this summer. American and United have added flights out of St. Louis. Jet Blue is coming to Kansas City International. And Spirit just announced a bunch of cheap flights to Florida from Kansas City. Now it's Southwest's turn, adding flights to Florida from Kansas City and Florida and South Carolina from St. Louis.

Southwest's summer schedule starts June 6 and the airline blogs that:

St. Louis will be getting new service to Savannah/Hilton, Sarasota/Bradenton, and Destin/Fort Walton Beach; and Kansas City will get new service to Miami, Sarasota/Bradenton, and Destin/Fort Walton Beach.

KCI says that Southwest will also be restoring flights to Austin, Panama City, Portland, Pensacola, San Diego and Orange County.

“We are happy about Southwest’s decision to make significant increases here for Kansas City travelers just in time for summer,” said Pat Klein, director of Kansas City’s Aviation Department in a release. “We are especially excited that our travelers will have the opportunity to enjoy new nonstop destinations.”

The new nonstop destinations are to Miami and Destin-Ft. Walton Beach. And the frequency is minimal with one flight per week on Saturday's.

KCI says passenger numbers are on the increase as more Americans become vaccinated. The latest guidance from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention says that fully vaccinated people don't need COVID tests before or after domestic travel, and fully vaccinated people don't need to to self-quarantine after domestic travel.

One things for sure, I suspect there's going to be a lot of great prices if you want to fly to Florida this summer. And no shortage of airlines to choose from.