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Southwest Airlines expands into Sonoma County amid increased California competition

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Southwest Airlines expands into Sonoma County amid increased California competition
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Southwest Airlines | Wikipedia

Southwest Airlines has announced it will begin service to Charles M. Schulz–Sonoma County Airport (STS) in Santa Rosa, California, starting April 7. The move adds another carrier to the airport, which is located about 60 miles north of San Francisco and serves both Sonoma and Napa counties, regions known for their wine production.

The airline will operate four routes from Santa Rosa: daily flights to San Diego and Las Vegas, five weekly flights to Burbank, and Saturday-only service to Denver. With this expansion, Southwest becomes the third airline at STS, joining Alaska Airlines—which currently operates eight routes from the airport—and American Airlines, which offers two.

This announcement comes as competition among airlines in California intensifies. Alaska Airlines has been expanding rapidly in San Diego, while other carriers are responding to changes brought on by Avelo's exit from the West Coast market. Avelo had previously operated up to eight routes from STS before announcing in July that it would end its West Coast operations. Following Avelo’s departure, several airlines have begun offering new routes to fill the gap at airports like STS and Hollywood Burbank Airport (BUR).

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Southwest is taking over two of the STS routes previously served by Avelo—Las Vegas and Burbank—and will compete directly with Alaska Airlines on those routes as well as on service to San Diego.

"Adding Charles M. Schulz Sonoma County Airport to our route map provides more access to California's famed Wine Country for our Customers and further solidifies our yearslong commitment to California," said Andrew Watterson, Southwest's chief operating officer.

"Southwest offers, without regional carriers, more intra-California service than any other airline. It also leads in available seats, daily departures, and proudly carries the most passengers in the Golden State," Southwest stated. However, these figures do not include regional affiliates of rival airlines.

The addition of Santa Rosa continues a recent period of growth for Southwest after a four-year pause in adding new destinations. In 2025 alone, Southwest has announced four new cities: Knoxville (Tennessee), St. Thomas (U.S. Virgin Islands), St. Maarten (Caribbean), and now Santa Rosa. The airline indicated that it plans to announce at least one more destination soon.

It remains uncertain how competitors will respond to Southwest’s latest move into Northern California.

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