Southwest Airlines has excavated a small airport for the California wine country as its latest destination.
Flights at Charles Schultz-Sonoma County Airport (STS) in Santa Rosa, Northern California will begin April 7 and begin in a strong turf war in the Golden State.
Southwest will take four routes from Santa Rosa, including daily service to San Diego and Las Vegas. Flights to Burbank will be operated five times a week, while Denver services are only Saturday.
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STS is about 60 miles north of San Francisco, STS sits next to Napa County, two of California’s most famous wine areas.
Southwest Airlines’ arrival will provide Santa Rosa with three carriers. STS’ busiest airline Alaska Airlines flew eight routes from the airport, while American Airlines offered two.
Santa Rosa will be the 14th destination in California in the Southwest region, and the Southwest State has long enjoyed a strong presence. But the airline faces new competitive pressures there, especially from Alaska Airlines’ rapid growth in San Diego, and airlines trying to fill Burbank’s exports from budget operator Avelo.
With the arrival of startup Avelo, the competition for STS joined the premium race in April 2021, eventually flying up to eight routes from STS. This has sparked a competitive response from several Western airlines, including STS from Alaska.
But Avelo announced in July that it would abandon its entire West Coast action, prompting many airlines to launch backfill services from numerous airports, including STS and Hollywood Burbank Airport (BUR) near Los Angeles.
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Now, Southwest Airlines is picking up two STS routes left by Avelo: Las Vegas and Burbank. Southwest will compete with Alaska on both routes, as well as Alaska’s rapid growth action in San Diego.
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Southwest cited the competitive California airline market when it announced STS as its latest destination.
“The addition of Charles M. Schulz Sonoma’s airport to our route map provides our customers with more access to California’s famous wine country and further cements our years of commitment to California,” Southwest Chief Operating Officer Andrew Watterson said in a statement.
“The Southwest has more offers, no regional operators, and it’s more than any other airline than any other airline. It also leads available seats, departs daily, and proudly brings the most passengers in the Golden State.”
More broadly, the addition of STS continues to carry out the recent expansion frenzy of the Southwest. With new destinations, the airline announced four new destinations in 2025 after not adding anything in the past four years. Other new cities announced this year are Knoxville, Tennessee; St. Thomas in the Virgin Islands of the United States; and Caribbean Island in St. Martin.
At least one seems to be on the way, Southwest said “planning to stay at another new destination on the road map soon.”
Meanwhile, it remains to be seen whether it is possible to respond there for the New California City in Southwest California. stay tuned…
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