Hawai‘i Island residents headed for the Ninth Island will be able to get there a little easier in the new year.
Southwest Airlines recently announced plans for nonstop service between Hilo and Las Vegas beginning Aug. 6, 2026.
The flights are initially scheduled to operate on Mondays, Thursdays and Fridays, according to an announcement from the airline on Friday. Eastbound flights will depart at 8:45 p.m. and arrive at 5:10 a.m. the next morning, while westbound flights will leave at 9:30 a.m. and arrive at 12:35 p.m.
“We heard you, Hilo,” Adam Decaire, Southwest Airlines senior vice president network planning and network operations control, said in the announcement. “Las Vegas is important to you and you’re important to us. This service gets you faster to family and fun in Nevada where you also can access easy connections on Southwest to many of the 75 places that we serve nonstop from Las Vegas with as many 272 departures a day.”
Southwest expanded service to the Islands in 2019 and began operating at Hilo International Airport on Jan. 19, 2020. It now operates nearly 60 interisland flights daily and has nearly 90 flights per day that “touch Hawai‘i,” the announcement notes.
“Hilo is one of those special places where Southwest has entered to serve — and we immediately and strongly have felt a sustained loyalty,” a Southwest spokesperson told Aloha State Daily in an email. “We have many local, Hilo-side customers on Hawai‘i Island who have used our interisland service to and from Honolulu. We also have seen a lot of customers (based on either side of the Pacific) who fly Southwest to or from Hilo, even if that’s meant an extra ‘connection’ in the Islands at HNL [the Daniel K. Inouye International Airport in Honolulu]. This new service is an investment in our relationship, a reflection of the demand we’ve seen and of the promise of potential new business in the Hilo market.”
Ahead of this new route, though, Southwest also will offer special flights between Hilo and Las Vegas, and additional interisland service, in April in support of halau and attendees of the Merrie Monarch Festival 2026, a weeklong cultural event and annual hula competition held in Hilo each spring.
According to the announcement, a flight on Thursday, April 9, will leave Las Vegas at 9:25 a.m. and arrive in Hilo at 12:30 p.m., while a flight on Sunday, April 12, will depart Hilo at 9:50 a.m. and arrive in Las Vegas at 6:25 p.m.
The airline’s frequent fliers should also take note that beginning Jan. 27, the airline will have assigned seating, rather than the open seating passengers may be familiar with. Learn more about the boarding process for flights with assigned seating here.
Open seating, where passengers can choose any available seat once onboard, will still be available on Southwest flight that depart on or before Jan. 26.
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Stephanie Salmons can be reached at stephanie@alohastatedaily.com.
