Southwest to offer daily flights between Portland and Chicago this summer

Southwest Airlines will start daily service between Portland and Chicago this summer, the latest in a flurry of new nonstop flights to and from Maine’s biggest airport.

Daily flights between Portland International Jetport and Chicago Midway International Airport will begin on June 6 and run through the summer, the jetport said Monday in a news release. For the past two years, Southwest has offered weekend-only Chicago flights during the summer.

The daily flights will run from June 6 to Sept. 6, the jetport said.

The new schedule is in line with the jetport’s aim to add more westbound flights, said Assistant Airport Director Zach Sunquist in a statement.

“This additional westbound flow will allow many more Southwest Airlines passengers access to nonstop or one-stop connections to Portland, which is a huge improvement in a post-COVID environment where minimizing time in transit is important,” he said.

The Southwest expansion is among a number of new, nonstop flights between Portland and Midwest cities announced since the beginning of the year, as airlines compensate for a sharp reduction in business and international travel by opening up new destinations for domestic leisure travelers.