I love living in Southern California! Beyond the awesome weather (and not so awesome traffic), Southwest offers so many options – LAX, Orange County, Ontario, Burbank, and San Diego. Now, they’re starting to fly out of Long Beach!
Where will Southwest fly from Long Beach?
Long Beach is a really small airport, and I believe Southwest only received 2 gates out of the 4 that they applied for. This will make Southwest the first airline to fly from 5 locations in Southern California!
JetBlue has been the dominant airline out of Long Beach, but Southwest is going to make things tough on JetBlue, so expect some major fare wars as JetBlue fights to keep their strength intact. Southwest will fly four times daily Sunday through Friday and three times Saturday between Long Beach and Oakland starting on June 5, 2016.
Fly to Oakland for $49!
If you book by April 14, 2016, fares are as low as $49 from June 5, 2016 through November 4, 2016. There are some blackout days around the 4th of July, but check with Southwest for all terms and conditions.
Whenever I fly to the Bay Area for work or pleasure, I like flying into Oakland instead of San Francisco because the weather is so unpredictable. I have a conference in San Francisco in June, so I may fly out of Long Beach, rather than the closer airports of Orange County or Ontario, just to try out the Long Beach airport experience.
