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Icelandair and Southwest Airlines signed a strategic partnership agreement in January. At the time, Southwest said that additional international partners were on the way. Today, it announced that China Airlines, a Taiwan-based carrier, is its latest partner and that an interline agreement is expected to begin in early 2026.
China Airlines flies between Taiwan Taoyuan International Airport (TPE) and Los Angeles International Airport (LAX), San Francisco International Airport (SFO), Ontario International Airport (ONT), and Seattle-Tacoma International Airport (SEA). Southwest will provide onward connections from all four airports. Tickets with combined itineraries are expected to go on sale later this year.
Andrew Watterson, Chief Operating Officer at Southwest Airlines, said:
We’re on a journey to bring more choices to our Customers. This initial work to partner with Taiwan-based China Airlines would allow for seamless trans-Pacific journeys across the Southwest network, furthering the reach of our Vision and Purpose—to connect People with important moments in their lives. As the largest carrier of domestic Passengers in the United States, we also carry more people to, from, and within California than any other airline1 and expect Southwest Customers could benefit immediately from having access to connections overseas through China Airlines.”
Kevin Chen, President at China Airlines, added:
Growing our long-haul network always has been China Airlines’ long-term plan. As we expand our gateway operations in Los Angeles, San Francisco, and Seattle, as well as Ontario, California, we are pleased to include Southwest as one of our partners with its unique network that further expands North American connection opportunities into the Midwest and toward the East Coast. In the future, customers may book China Airlines and Southwest Airlines itineraries under one ticket and enjoy seamless travel experiences. We believe this complementary cooperation will enhance travel options for our customers and improve connectivity to Asia for travelers in the domestic U.S. market.”
Icelandair and Southwest initially partnered through Baltimore/Washington International Thurgood Marshall Airport (BWI) before adding Denver International Airport (DEN) and Nashville International Airport (BNA). Orlando International Airport (MCO), Pittsburgh International Airport (PIT), and Raleigh-Durham International Airport (RDU) will be available as international gateways starting on July 14th.
Anthony’s Take: Southwest is trying everything that it can to keep up with changes in market demand. It’d great that it now has interline agreements with Icelandair and China Airlines. Whether this coupled with other changes to the airline will be enough remains to be seen.
(Featured Image Credit: Southwest and China Airlines.)
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Advertiser & Editorial Disclosure: The Bulkhead Seat earns an affiliate commission for anyone approved through the links above This compensation may impact how and where links appear on this site. We work to provide the best publicly available offers to our readers. We frequently update them, but this site does not include all available offers. Opinions, reviews, analyses & recommendations are the author’s alone, and have not been reviewed, endorsed, or approved by any of these entities.
