Southwest Airlines to launch non-stop flights from Cancun to St. Louis and Indy

CANCUN — Southwest Airlines is adding more flights from St. Louis and Indianapolis to Cancun, gateway to the Mexican Caribbean.

The airline originally announced once- a- week flights from St. Louis starting in November. Starting next March they’ll begin daily flights to Cancun. Frontier Airlines already offers daily flights from St. Louis Lambert International Airport to Cancun.

Lambert spokesman Jeff Lea says the schedule, which begins in March, includes an expansion to daily service from single-day, Saturday service from St. Louis to Cancun.

That Saturday service begins in November, and Lea said Southwest has been selling tickets since May. The daily service from Lambert to Cancun (CUN) starts next March.

Lambert officials say ticket sales are strong for Cancun, adding that St. Louis will become a great connection point for other Southwest markets.

Meanwhile, Southwest Airlines and the Indianapolis International Airport last week announced the airline’s first international nonstop flight out of Indianapolis.

Destined for Cancun, the inaugural flight will take place March 10. It is the latest nonstop destination from Southwest.

Southwest has increased its nonstop flights leaving Indianapolis by almost 70 percent since 2014, said Mario Rodriguez, executive director of the Indianapolis Airport Authority.

The new nonstop flight to Cancun “sends a clear message that Southwest has strong confidence in the Indy market for further domestic and international growth and expansion,” Rodriguez said in a statement.

Southwest Airlines has more than 40,000 seats sold weekly out of Indianapolis on nearly 40 flights per day to more than 15 nonstop destinations, the most out of all of Indianapolis International’s airline partners.

Southwest’s seasonal Cancun service will depart Indianapolis on Saturdays from March 10 through the summer.