Southwest Airlines is planning to launch new nonstop service between Phoenix Sky Harbor and New York’s LaGuardia on Saturdays starting April 18, 2018. The new flight will depart Phoenix at 11:10 am and arrives into New York at 7pm, with a return leaving at 4pm, arriving into Phoenix at 6:40pm.

Due to LaGuardia’s perimeter rule, which was originally set in place to promote expansion at New York’s John F. Kennedy airport, airlines aren’t able to operate flights further than 1500 miles with the exception of Denver, however this rule does not apply on Saturday, which is why you’ll see some flights being offered just once a week.

Per The Arizona Republic

Southwest Airlines plans to add non-stop flights between Phoenix and New York’s LaGuardia Airport in April.

The seasonal service will operate on Saturdays only beginning April 14. Non-stop flights between the two airports are prohibited on other days because of a long-standing federal restriction called the perimeter rule. The rule limits non-stop flights out of LaGuardia to 1,500 miles. It’s 2,146 miles from Phoenix to LaGuardia

Bottom Line

I’m excited to see Southwest launching this new route, even if it’s only on Saturdays, as currently the airline only flies nonstop from Phoenix to Newark. Delta, American, and JetBlue currently offer nonstop service from Phoenix to New York’s John F. Kennedy (JFK).

Southwest is also shuffling some of their slots at LaGuardia and will be adding seasonal service to a few new destinations including New Orleans, San Antonio, and Ft. Lauderdale in the coming months.

Feel free to share your thoughts below on this new Southwest Airlines route.