Kansas City travelers headed to Puerto Rico will no longer need to route through Atlanta, Nashville or St. Louis. Southwest Airlines announced it is adding weekly Saturday nonstop service between Kansas City International Airport and Luis Muñoz Marín International Airport in San Juan, starting in June 2027, marking the airport's first-ever direct route to the island.
The new flight will be Kansas City International Airport's first nonstop connection to San Juan, according to FOX 4 Kansas City WDAF-TV. Airfares and scheduling details are expected to be posted at Southwest.com once the route opens for booking. Kansas City Mayor Quinton Lucas said the service will help Puerto Rican residents travel home and bring visitors from the island to Kansas City, adding that nonstop service to San Juan will connect Kansas Citians with Puerto Rico.
“Kansas City is proud that the new terminal continues to open doors,” Lucas said, according to the station's report.
A Route Years in the Making Since the New Terminal Opened
The San Juan announcement builds on a broader expansion effort that began when MCI's new terminal opened. Since opening the new terminal in February 2023, Southwest has added and maintained 10 nonstop routes out of Kansas City, including destinations like Boston, Columbus, Montego Bay, Punta Cana, Savannah, San Francisco, Los Cabos, Sacramento and Norfolk, according to the Kansas City Airport System. Just months earlier, in June 2026, the carrier had already expanded its MCI map with new daily nonstop service to Boston Logan International Airport and weekend nonstops to Savannah/Hilton Head and Norfolk, per the City of Kansas City.
That $1.5 billion, 40-gate single terminal opened on February 28, 2023, replacing a 50-year-old three-terminal horseshoe layout and building in enhanced federal U.S. Customs and Border Protection capabilities meant to handle expanded international routes, per the Kansas City Airport System. The upgrade came as the airport was posting record numbers of its own: MCI logged its busiest month in history in June 2024 with over 1.17 million passengers, putting it on pace to challenge the annual record of 11.9 million passengers set in 2000, according to Simple Flying.
Southwest's New San Juan Route at MCI
The service adds San Juan to Southwest's nonstop destinations from MCI.
The expansion also fits the airport's financial model. The Kansas City Airport System operates as an Enterprise Fund Department of the City of Kansas City, supported by airport user charges.
A New Nonstop Option for San Juan
For travelers weighing the new option, the direct flight will provide a nonstop connection between Kansas City and San Juan.
