Southwest Airlines has been announced new initiatives throughout 2025. Some of these changers were implemented immediately, with others on tap for 2026.
On Tuesday, the budget air carrier revealed another upcoming program for next year: a partnership with German airline Condor, starting January 19, 2026.
Preparing to fly with Condor
Founded in 1955, Condor Airlines serves nearly 100 destinations throughout the world, including close to 70 across Europe, Africa, Asia, and the Americas from its primary hub in Frankfurt.
According to the joint announcement from both companies, Southwest will provide Condor passengers with domestic flights through same-ticket journeys that connect both airlines’ schedules at six different airports: Boston, Las Vegas, Los Angeles, Portland, San Francisco, and Seattle.
“Adding Condor to our portfolio of partners brings transatlantic journeys between dozens of airports in the U.S. and exciting and aspirational places Condor serves,” said Southwest Airlines COO Andrew Watterson. “In Las Vegas alone, we can connect international travelers with the power of our network, offering them more than 270 departures a day and nonstop flights to more than 70 cities. Our airline partnerships showcase the warmth of our People, our operational reliability, and the increasing choice in travel experiences that Southwest now can offer to potential Customers around the world.”
Another overseas agreement for Southwest
Southwest’s partnership with Condor marks its fifth international tie-in.
The other four are:
- China Airlines
- EVA Air
- Icelandair
- Philippine Airlines
Philippine Airlines, which is also tied in with Alaska Airlines, was the most recently introduced deal prior to today’s announcement, revealed back in early November.
Southwest’s list of changes keeps growing
For better or worse, Southwest Airlines has certainly not been stagnant in 2025.
The new changes and plans the carrier has installed include:
- Ending its popular open boarding and “Bags Fly Free” policies
- Expanding international flight offerings
- Announcing an expansion of West Coast travel plans
- Tapping Peet’s Coffee as its official in-flight coffee partner
- Transitioning from its usual point-to-point flight model to the more traditional hub-and-spoke arrangement
- Adding free in-flight Wi-Fi for all premium rewards members
- Teaming up with Priceline to give travelers more booking options for trips
- Launching its in-house vacation service, Southwest Getaways
- Expanding its TSA PreCheck Touchless ID program to five new locations after trying it out in Denver.
- Bringing back digital bag checking
“Evolving is part of our ethos, and we have done so successfully time after time, there’s so much to look forward to,” Southwest CEO Bob Jordan said in an earlier message to customers. “We’re excited, we’re focused, and we’re just so honored to have you join us on this transformational journey to an Even Better Southwest.”
