Southwest Airlines starts six-day-a-week nonstops from Long Beach Airport to Portland and Seattle on August 4, 2026.
The launches restore Southwest service between the Greater Los Angeles area and those Pacific Northwest cities from Long Beach, giving South Bay and Orange County travelers a closer airport option than defaulting through Los Angeles International Airport for the same markets.
- What starts: Long Beach (LGB) nonstops to Portland (PDX) and Seattle (SEA) on August 4, 2026.
- Frequency: Six days per week on both routes, per Southwest and specialist reporting.
- Why it matters: Southwest is the largest carrier at Long Beach and is returning Greater LA to these Northwest links from LGB.
- Book now: Seats are on sale through the late-summer 2026 schedule window on Southwest.com.
- Who benefits: Travelers who prefer Long Beach over LAX for bags, parking, and shorter terminal walks.
What Long Beach gains on August 4
Southwest’s official late-summer California growth announcement lists Long Beach to Portland and Long Beach to Seattle with a scheduled launch of August 4, 2026.
The airline says the new service will operate six days per week and marks its return to linking the Greater Los Angeles area with those Pacific Northwest destinations from Long Beach. Independent specialist coverage from Simple Flying matches that launch date and frequency and notes no direct competitor currently listed on the Long Beach to Portland or Long Beach to Seattle pairs in its comparison table.
That combination matters more than a marketing banner. A six-day pattern is dense enough for weeklong leisure trips and many midweek business turns, while still leaving one day without a nonstop that you must plan around when building a fixed meeting schedule.
Confirm exact times and days of week on Southwest.com for your dates, because inaugural banks can shift by a few minutes and the off day can move in later schedule files.
Why Long Beach is the product, not a footnote to LAX
Long Beach Airport is a different traveler experience from Los Angeles International Airport. The terminal is smaller, curb-to-gate walks are shorter, and parking and security lines often feel more predictable for parties that already live or stay in the South Bay, Long Beach, or northern Orange County. Southwest already positions itself as the largest carrier at Long Beach, so adding Portland and Seattle turns a local base with strong California density into a genuine Northwest gateway instead of forcing those trips onto a longer drive to LAX or a connection through another Southwest city. For a family with two free checked bags under current Southwest product rules on many fares, avoiding a multi-terminal transfer at a mega-hub is often worth more than a slightly lower base fare that costs an hour of traffic each way.
Deep Arrival’s Southwest Airlines guide remains the right place to recheck bags, seating changes, and Rapid Rewards mechanics before you stack a multi-city coastal itinerary around the new banks.
If your trip also needs a Los Angeles city day, the Los Angeles itinerary guide helps decide whether a Long Beach arrival still supports the ground plan without adding a painful airport transfer.
| If you… | What to do |
|---|---|
| Live near Long Beach, the South Bay, or north Orange County | Price LGB nonstops first before defaulting to LAX for Portland or Seattle. |
| Need a specific weekday meeting in Seattle or Portland | Map the six-day pattern and the missing day before you lock hotel nights. |
| Already hold Southwest points or companion-style awards | Search LGB awards early in the launch week while short Northwest space is open. |
| Prefer San Diego instead of Long Beach | Compare Southwest’s separate San Diego Northwest frequency story rather than forcing LGB. |
| Travel with bags and kids on one carrier | Keep the full itinerary on Southwest metal so bag and change rules stay consistent end to end. |
- August 4 start: Treat the first week as live flying, not a soft marketing window that can slip quietly.
- Airport choice: Rebuild Greater LA to Northwest door-to-door times with Long Beach parking and traffic, not only base fare screenshots.
- Seattle side trips: Pair a SEA arrival with Deep Arrival’s Seattle things to do guide when an overnight beats a tight same-day meeting stack.
- Portland area nature: Mount Hood and Columbia Gorge day trips fit a PDX base; use the Mount Hood things to do guide once flights are locked.
- Same-week California package: Related Southwest San Diego coastal moves remain a separate planning stream if SAN is closer to you than LGB.
How this fits the wider California growth wave
Southwest framed the Long Beach Northwest launches inside a broader late-summer California package that also raised San Diego peak-day departures and added other Southern California links.
Deep Arrival already covered the San Diego to Santa Barbara nonstop and San Diego Northwest frequency doubles in a separate August 4 San Diego package story. That post is chronology for the same seasonal schedule file, not a substitute for a Long Beach traveler decision. If your ground home base is Long Beach, the LGB banks are the ones that change parking, TSA time, and same-day reliability math.
Simple Flying’s route table also places Long Beach to Portland and Long Beach to Seattle as six-times-weekly launches on August 4 with no listed nonstop competitor on those exact pairs in its snapshot. That does not freeze the competitive map forever. It does mean the first booking window is a rare chance to test Southwest fares without an automatic Alaska Airlines nonstop comparison from the same small airport.
Travelers who only care about Seattle should still open Portland inventory, and the reverse, because a slightly cheaper PDX fare plus a short ground hop can beat a thin SEA nonstop on some midweek dates.
What is confirmed and what still moves
Confirmed in Southwest’s published growth package: Long Beach nonstops to Portland and Seattle start August 4, 2026, on a six-day weekly pattern, described as a return of Greater Los Angeles to Pacific Northwest service from Long Beach.
Confirmed in specialist reporting that tracks the same package: both LGB city pairs appear as six-times-weekly launches with the same start date, and the Long Beach pairs were called out separately from San Diego and Hawaii moves.
Still schedule-file dependent until you hold a ticket: exact departure times, aircraft type on a given day, and which weekday stays dark.
Still personal: whether Long Beach beats LAX after you add parking, rideshare, and the drive from your real origin, not from downtown Los Angeles on a map.
If August 4 seats look thin, check adjacent days inside the first two weeks before abandoning Southwest for a multi-airline itinerary that complicates bags and changes.
The clean next step is simple. Open Southwest.com for LGB to PDX or LGB to SEA around August 4, price the nonstop first, then only add LAX or a connection if the all-in door-to-door math still loses.
When do Long Beach to Portland and Seattle flights start?
Southwest schedules both nonstops to begin August 4, 2026, as part of its late-summer California growth package.
How often will the new Long Beach routes fly?
Official and specialist reporting both describe a six-day-per-week pattern on Long Beach to Portland and Long Beach to Seattle. Confirm your weekday on Southwest.com before locking hotels.
Is this the same story as Southwest’s San Diego August 4 changes?
No. San Diego’s Santa Barbara launch and Northwest frequency doubles are a separate traveler decision. Long Beach is a different airport with different ground access.
Should I fly from Long Beach or Los Angeles International?
Price total door-to-door time and cost from your real origin. Long Beach often wins for South Bay and Long Beach travelers even when LAX shows a lower base fare.
Where should I book?
Book on Southwest.com or the Southwest app for the August 4 launch week and later dates as inventory remains open through the published schedule window.
