Southwest Airlines has launched its inaugural international flight from Los Angeles Airport.
The daily service, to Liberia/Guanacaste, Costa Rica, began Tuesday. Southwest is competing with Alaska and Delta on the route, according to Flightconnections.com, but neither of those airlines offers daily service between the two destinations. Southwest also serves Liberia from Houston Hobby.
Southwest, which now flies to Latin America and the Caribbean from 13 mainland U.S. airports, has been quickly expanding its international presence since launching its first such route in July 2014.
The airline currently serves 11 foreign destinations in Central America, Mexico and the Caribbean, in addition to San Juan in the U.S. territory of Puerto Rico.
"Our service to Liberia/Guanacaste marks the beginning of our international story here at LAX, as we continue to explore more destinations for our L.A. basin customers," said Paul Cullen, Southwest's vice president of corporate planning and financial planning and analysis.