Southwest to Resume Ft. Lauderdale-Havana Flights in February

Southwest Airlines is offering customers the "gift of travel" with 15 new and returning routes as part of its extended flight schedule, including Havana, Cuba.

Southwest will return daily service between Fort Lauderdale and Havana beginning February 17, with JetBlue being the route's only competition.

The airline is focused on summer travel as well as bringing back its service to Havana, Cuba that was halted in March following the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic. The route to Cuba will complement the daily flight to the country from Tampa, Florida, which restarted on December 5.

The announcement comes as the Omicron variant threatens the airline industry, though domestic demand is not expected to be impacted as much as international, according to CNBC. 

Despite the looming effect of the variant, CNBC reported Southwest expects a profitable quarter four, with a 2% growth in capacity for 2022 as travel demand increases.