Southwest Airlines will soon be branching out to include flight services in Hawaii. Although an official date has yet to be announced, expectations point to the service becoming available either late this year, or early 2019. Currently, the airline company is in the process of gaining federal approval for these flights. Delays have been primarily due to the need for Southwest Airlines to gain clearance in order to commence these trans-pacific flights.

The process itself appears to be well underway, with Southwest Airlines recently gaining a permit necessary to conduct business at a Honolulu airport. Hawaii’s Department of Transportation is currently sorting out the logistics behind the upcoming development.

Being as Southwest Airlines has desired to provide flight services in Hawaii for a long time, a good deal of excitement surrounds this advancement. Those with frequent flyer miles as well as fans of Southwest Airlines, are also excited by this expansion of services.

Although Southwest Airlines flights to Hawaii may occur for the first time in 2019, tickets are expected to be available this year. Flights will take place on Boeing 737 Max 8 Jets. Initially, the majority of these flights will start in California, as the company adapts to the competition of many providers offering competitive prices for flights from California to Hawaii.

Successfully gaining the upper hand on the competition in terms of pricing, should be something within reach for Southwest Airlines. The company, after all, has earned the title of being “the world’s largest low-cost carrier”. With upwards of 55,000 employees and up to 4,000 daily departures, it appears that the sky’s the limit for  Southwest Airlines.