‘You’ve asked... A LOT!’ | Southwest Airlines coming to McGhee Tyson Airport

ALCOA, Tenn. (WVLT) - Southwest Airlines will soon be offering flights out of McGhee Tyson Airport. The airport made the announcement Thursday.

Southwest will take flyers to four locations: Nashville, Dallas, Orlando and Baltimore. Flights will head to Nashville twice a day, with one daily flight planned for the other locations.

“You’ve asked... A LOT! And the wait is over!” the airport said on social media.

“I’m excited my mom loves southwest so she can travel and come to us now and all that good stuff,” Tracey Johnson, Knoxville resident said.

People are excited about Southwest Airlines coming to McGhee Tyson.

Travelers are looking forward to more options in their flights.

“Kind of excited because it gives us another option of less expensive, always go less expensive,” Janet Rouse, Morristown Resident said. “But good service and reliable transportation there, I fly to my sisters a lot.”

President of the Metropolitan Knoxville Airport Authority Patrick Wilson said it’s also a way to expand.

“In 2024, we set a new record of serving 3.3 million passengers at Mcghee Tyson airport,” he said. “That represents a 18% increase over the prior year.”

East Tennessee has been growing, which means so is tourism.

“You’ve been part of a 40% growth over the last six years,” Commissioner Mark Ezell, Tennessee Dept. of Tourism Development said. “For Tennessee, we’re up 35% when the nationally average is only 16%>

Opening these flights to these locations doesn’t just allow East Tennesseans to travel.

But it also exposes other people in those cities to this area.

“And we’re going to let those people know about coming to visit the Smokies,” Commissioner Ezell said. “And all the great things that are within this region.”

Not only that, UT President Randy Boyd said it’s also going to help get UT fans here.

“We sell out basketball, we sell out baseball,” he said, “So we’re going to have people flying Southwest into Knoxville for all sports events all year long.”

The airline is also expected to start flights in March of 2026.

Checking online bookings, Southwest listed March flights to Dallas at around $200. Flights to Nashville, Orlando and Baltimore hovered around $200, $180 and $150, respectively.