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The airline said it would fly 12 daily nonstop flights from Dulles to Chicago, Orlando and Tampa with one-way fares starting at $79. It will fly to Las Vegas for as low as $99 one way. The fares require a 14-day minimum advance purchase and exclude taxes and other charges.
Southwest's Las Vegas fare was about $30 less yesterday than the lowest fare offered by JetBlue, according to JetBlue's Web site. Southwest's fare to Orlando was about $10 less than United's and Air Tran's, according to Orbitz.com. And Southwest's fare to Tampa was about $20 less than United's.
Southwest announced in April that it planned to begin flying out of Northern Virginia. The airline will have two gates on Dulles's B concourse.
Although Southwest's advance tickets were cheaper than competitors', many of its walk-up fares -- most often purchased by business travelers -- were higher than some of its rivals'.
Southwest's last-minute, one-way ticket to Las Vegas from Dulles was $319; JetBlue's Web site had a fare of $179, which unlike Southwest's was not refundable. A Southwest ticket to Orlando was $196, but fares to Orlando on AirTran and United yesterday were $109.
Southwest offered the lowest walk-up fare to Chicago Midway, at $171 each way. United charged $234, according to Orbitz.
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