Why Southwest Just Made Nashville #1 Fastest-Growing Airport: +2,250 Flights

Published Aug 22, 2026, 3:00 PM EDT Journalist – Aaron is an aviation and travel journalist with 14 years of experience in the travel and tourism industry. His background spans airport operations, aviation infrastructure, and travel consulting, having worked with global organizations across New Zealand, Europe, and North America. Combining industry expertise with firsthand travel experience across more than 52 countries and five continents, Aaron covers airlines, airports, aviation policy, and the wider travel sector. He is based in Canterbury, New Zealand. His work has been published in Simple Flying and featured by MSN, SAM CHUI Aviation & Travel, EIN News, Pakistan Defence, and Climate Depot. The world's largest low-cost carrier, Southwest Airlines, just made a number of schedule adjustments for Q3, and this has catapulted Nashville International Airport (BNA) to become its leading airport for added departures. This will see the airline add an additional 24 daily departures when compared to the same time last year. What makes the move unique is that this is not from an expansion into new markets, but more an increase in frequencies on existing routes; the only two routes the airline has added this year are Knoxville (TYS) and Little Rock (LIT). Southwest also axed three services: Orange County (SNA), Portland (PDX), and Chicago O'Hare (ORD). Going Big In Tennessee Credit: Shutterstock Southwest's move at Nashville will see the airline add an extra 2,250 daily departures this quarter, with the airline planning to operate a total of 17,042 flights, an increase of 15.2% when compared to the 14,792 recorded at the same time last year. The largest jump can be seen at Greenville-Spartanburg International Airport (GSP), where this will have a 182% increase as its operations go from 92 (one daily) to 260 departures (almost three daily), an improvement of 168 additional departures overall. Credit: GCMap Other strong increases are that of Nashville to Louisville Muhammad Ali International Airport (SDF), with an additional 135 departures (an increase of 275% year on year), Orlando International Airport (MCO) with 23.5% more flights (140 additional departures), Oakland International Airport (OAK) with a 101% increase (+93 departures), and Cincinnati Northern Kentucky International Airport (CVG) with a 100% increase (92 additional departures). The breakdown is as follows: Origin Destination Q3 2025 Q3 2026 Total Increase In Flights Total % Increase In Flights Nashville (BNA) Greenville (GSP) 92 260 168 182.6% Nashville (BNA) Louisville (SDF) 49 184 135 275.5% Nashville (BNA) Orlando (MCO) 596 736 140 23.5% Nashville (BNA) Oakland (OAK) 92 185 93 101.1% Nashville (BNA) Cincinnati (CVG) 92 184 92 100.0% New Routes To Knoxville And Little Rock Credit: Shutterstock As already mentioned, the airline has added just two routes from Nashville for this quarter, with them being that of Knoxville and Little Rock. The sudden introduction will see a total of 185 services to Knoxville, an average of twice daily, and Little Rock, with 184 flights. Both of these services will be uncontested, meaning Southwest is the only carrier offering the services nonstop. Credit: GCMap When looking at just the total number of flight increases, the top five leading destinations are Greenville (+168), Orlando (+167), Louisville (+135), Dallas/Fort Worth International Airport (121), and then five cities tied at an increase of 92 additional flights (daily), being Cincinnati, Indianapolis, Memphis, Oakland, and Tulsa. Looking at the other end of the spectrum, some routes have been cancelled altogether, or have large reductions as detailed in the table below: Origin Destination Q3 2025 Q3 2026 Total Decrease In Flights Nashville (BNA) Los Angeles (LAX) 400 217 -183 Nashville (BNA) Chicago O'Hare 92 -92 Nashville (BNA) Orange County (SNA) 90 -92 Nashville (BNA) Boston (BOS) 267 231 -36 Nashville (BNA) Phoenix (PHX) 447 425 -22 Nashville (BNA) San Antonio (SAT) 227 211 -16 Why Has Southwest Decided To Expand In Nashville? Credit: Shutterstock Southwest's investment in Nashville comes as the city continues to be one of the fastest-growing travel and economic markets in all of the United States. High passenger demand and a strong local tourism scene have seen several airlines boost services to and from the airport, for both leisure and corporate travel. BNA is located just 15 miles (24 km) from the city's downtown core, and the airport has one main terminal, supported by five concourses across 53 gates. Apart from Southwest, other operators at the airport include Aer Lingus, Air Canada, Alaska Airlines, Allegiant Air, American Airlines, Avelo Airlines, British Airways, Contour Airlines, Delta Air Lines, Frontier Airlines, Icelandair, JetBlue, Porter Airlines, Southern Airways Express, Sun Country Airlines, United Airlines, Viva, and WestJet. Outside of Nashville, the fastest-growing airports in the airline system are San Diego International Airport (SAN), with an increase of 2,116 departures in Q3 (23.7%); Orlando, with 1,149 more departures (9.9%); and San Francisco International Airport (SFO) having 786 additional departures (35.8%).