Southwest Airlines Adds Birmingham Access From March 2027

Southwest Airlines is adding Birmingham flights for spring 2027: a Saturday nonstop to Fort Lauderdale from March, four extra Orlando departures a week, and four more days a week to Chicago Midway.

All of it is bookable now, which is unusual six months out. If Birmingham is your destination rather than your departure point, our guide to things to do in Birmingham covers what is worth the trip.

What Southwest Is Adding and When

WVTM reported the additions on September 17, describing new and returning routes beginning in October and continuing into next year.

The Southwest changes are dated to March of next year and split three ways. Fort Lauderdale gets a Saturday service, which it does not have today on that carrier. Orlando gets extra daily flights on four specific days, Tuesdays, Wednesdays, Saturdays and Sundays. Chicago Midway is increased on four days a week.

Two of those three are frequency, not new routes. Birmingham already flies nonstop to both Orlando and Chicago Midway, which the airport confirms on its own airlines and destinations list. Fort Lauderdale is the one genuinely new Southwest day of the week.

Fort Lauderdale Gets a Saturday Flight in March

A single Saturday flight sounds minor and is not, on a leisure route.

Saturday is the day a week-long Florida trip starts and ends, and adding it turns a route that suited a mid-week traveler into one that fits the way most families actually book. It also means a Saturday-to-Saturday booking becomes possible on one carrier rather than two.

The route itself already exists from Birmingham, so this is Southwest matching the demand pattern rather than opening a market.

Orlando and Chicago Midway Gain Days, Not Routes

Extra Orlando departures on Tuesday, Wednesday, Saturday and Sunday is a deliberate shape. It thickens the weekend at both ends and adds mid-week capacity, which is what a theme park market looks like when an airline is chasing both the family trip and the short break.

Chicago Midway going up on four days a week matters for a different reason. Midway is a Southwest fortress, and more Birmingham frequency there improves same-day connection options beyond Chicago, not just travel to Chicago itself.

Neither change is a new city on the map. Both change whether the city is reachable on the day you want to fly, which is the part travelers actually feel.

Birmingham Now Reaches 22 Nonstop Destinations

The airport’s own count is 22 nonstop destinations across 19 cities on five airlines: American, Delta, Southwest, United and Breeze Airways.

That list includes both Dallas airports, both Chicago airports and both Houston airports, which is why the destination count runs ahead of the city count. It also now includes Fort Lauderdale and Raleigh-Durham on Breeze, added this year.

For a mid-sized airport, reaching the top of the domestic network without a connection is the whole proposition, and the Southwest additions push it further into Florida, which is Birmingham’s strongest leisure direction.

Phoenix is the other piece of this autumn’s growth, and we covered that separately when Southwest opened Phoenix to Birmingham nonstops from October 1.

What Is Not Published Yet

Be clear about the gaps, because they affect how you book. Neither the airport nor the reporting has given exact start dates within March, flight numbers, times or aircraft for any of the three Southwest changes.

What exists is the shape of the schedule and the fact that it is loaded and sellable. That is enough to book against, and it is not enough to plan a tight connection against.

If your March trip depends on a specific departure time, check the booking engine rather than this summary, and re-check closer to the date. Schedules this far out move. If you are choosing what to do at the other end, our Birmingham Civil Rights National Monument guide is built for a short stay.