New Route of the Day – Americas (17 January 2022): Southwest between Albuquerque and Burbank

Southwest has started daily service between Albuquerque in New Mexico and Hollywood/Burbank in California. The inaugural service on the 1,080-kilometre route was on Monday 17 January using the airline’s 737-700s. Southwest already serves Los Angeles and San Diego with daily flights from Albuquerque as well as a weekly service to Oakland, making a total of four routes to California. American (14-weekly) and Delta (19-weekly) also serve Los Angeles, while United offers 2-daily service to San Francisco.

After not welcoming any new services in 2021, this is the second new route from Albuquerque in 2022 following the launch of daily flights to Austin with American on 4 January. In December the airport welcomed 350,730 passengers, 192% more than in December 2020 but still down 24% compared with 2019.

What they said

Tim Keller, Mayor of Albuquerque, said: “This is a huge win for New Mexico’s film industry and economic development opportunities. Our relationship with Hollywood is only going to grow as we continue to demonstrate support for filmmakers, and this new service offering is an important step in that journey.”

Richard McCurley, Interim Director of Aviation for the City of Albuquerque, added: “Today’s inaugural flight is an exciting signal of the increasing demand for Albuquerque as a business, tourism, and film destination. This new, non-stop service to the heart of Hollywood is sure to strengthen our state’s ties to the film industry and also provide a convenient option for travel between New Mexico and southern California.”

Cyndy McCrossen, City of Albuquerque Film Liaison, noted: “The film industry is an integral component of our state’s economy and personality. We are so ecstatic to be facilitating a stronger connection with the moviemaking capital via this new air service, and are confident it will incentivize more projects to be filmed here in our beautiful state.”