Birmingham airport adding new routes to NYC, Vegas, Orlando

Birmingham airport adding new routes to NYC, Vegas, Orlando

New routes are coming to Birmingham-Shuttlesworth International Airport this year.

The Birmingham Airport Authority announced that, as passenger traffic continues to pick up in 2023, several airlines are adding flights to cities around the U.S.

According to the authority, Delta Airlines is adding two additional daily non-stop flights to New York’s La Guardia Airport, a second daily non-stop flight to Detroit, and a ninth daily flight to Atlanta.

The La Guardia flights will be added over the next three months, while the Detroit and Atlanta flights will begin in June.

Beginning in July, Southwest Airlines is adding non-stop service to Las Vegas on Sundays, to complement the current Saturday service.

The airline will also offer daily non-stop flights to Las Vegas, a second daily non-stop flight to Orlando and a third on Saturdays, all beginning in October.

American Airlines is also expected to begin its first ever non-stop flight from BHM to LaGuardia in May.

According to the authority, these additions come as traffic at the airport continues its post-pandemic rise. The number of passengers in February boarding flights at BHM increased by 13% over the same period last year. That comes after a 17% year-by-year increase in January.

Darlene Wilson, chair of the Birmingham Airport Authority Board, said, “The airlines that serve BHM are showing a tremendous amount of confidence in this market and we are just getting started.”

“This trend is very encouraging as we engage in ongoing talks with the airlines,” Wilson said. “We have worked diligently to show the airlines that this region needs additional flights to accommodate growing demand. Nothing proves that point more than the increases in traffic we’ve seen so far this year.”