Southwest Airlines adding three more destinations in 2021, including Savannah

Southwest Airlines, continuing its quest to fill its planes with vacationers in the absence of business travelers, announced the addition of three destinations on Thursday.

The nation's largest domestic carrier said it plans to begin flights to Savannah/Hilton Head International Airport in Georgia, Colorado Springs Municipal Airport in Colorado and Jackson-Medgar Wiley Evers International Airport in Jackson, Mississippi.

Southwest did not announce routes or a timetable for the start of the service beyond saying flights will begin in the first half of 2021.

The destinations are in addition to a flurry of new flights announced by Southwest in recent months, including flights to Miami and Palm Springs, California; Colorado ski destinations; and Chicago's O'Hare International Airport.

Southwest has announced service to nine destinations this year. That compares with just one new destination, Hawaii, in 2019 and no new service in 2018.

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All airlines are ramping up efforts to woo vacationers during the coronavirus pandemic as business travel remains anemic. Southwest CEO Gary Kelly said in an interview on CNBC Thursday that it could take as long as 10 years for business travel to return to pre-pandemic levels, noting that business travel takes five years to rebound after a recession.

"We have to assume that we will be more dependent on consumers in terms of our demand in the future,'' he said.

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This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: Southwest Airlines adding flights to Savannah, Colorado Springs