As Southwest Airlines dropped flights at John Wayne Airport, it picked up two permanent spots at nearby Long Beach Airport.
The gates became available when American Airlines decided to decrease its presence at the airport.
Southwest will get announce its routes in April and get the slots Aug. 1.
In February, American Airlines told the airport it would reduce its service by two slots. The slots were offered to Southwest because it is a new carrier, the airport said in a press release. It debuted at the airport last year.
Delta Air Lines and Jet Blue Airways also expressed interest.
Nine commercial slots opened at the Long Beach Airport in December 2015 after studies showed the airport could add the flights without violating Long Beach’s noise ordinances.
Of the nine new slots, Southwest was offered four, JetBlue was offered three and Delta two.
Southwest added four daily flights to Oakland in last June.
Southwest lost nearly 1 million seats at John Wayne Airport this year. In the past, unused capacity from other carriers was claimed by Southwest. Other carriers, including Delta, United and Alaska, requested additional capacity for 2017, leaving fewer supplemental seats for Southwest.
The airlines eliminated flights to Mexico City, Austin, Kansas City, Portland, St. Louis and Seattle and will end flights to Puerto Vallarta on April 25.
Contact the writer: hmadans@ocregister.com or Twitter: @HannahMadans
