tl;dr – This is the LUV airline’s sixth international partner airline.
Southwest Airlines will add its sixth international partner airline this month in Turkish Airlines. Turkey’s flag carrier will join Icelandair, Condor, Philippine Airlines, EVA Air, and China Airlines as Southwest partners. (Sidenote: Is it not peculiar that both EVA and China Airlines (both Taiwan-based and direct competitors are Southwest partners?)
The deal will allow passengers to book single-ticket journeys connecting Southwest’s U.S. domestic network with Turkish Airlines’ global hub in Istanbul. Turkish Airlines famously flies to more destinations than any other airline in the world, so there’s some inherent value in the destination combinations that one can string together.
The private equity era Southwest has been on quite a ride. Following layoffs at the start of 2025, the airline cut its generous bag policy, started flying redeyes, expanded its international destinations, including plans for its first transatlantic journeys to Iceland, added six partner airlines, and the carrier might put its beloved companion pass on the chopping block. Oh, and the airline’s stock is up 25% in the last six months.
Turkish Airlines, which was the recent subject of our Deals I’m Booking That You Should Too series, has a solid business class product.
Perhaps future Southwest mixed itineraries will allow more folks to try it out.
