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Southwest has been steadily adding airline partners over the last year. Once an airline with no partnerships to speak of, new management has adopted a sharply different strategy, including removing its famous two free checked bags and open seating. Now, via a LinkedIn Post, we've received confirmation that the seventh airline partner will be Japan's ANA, further proving this is a changed airline.
Here's what we know so far about the new partnership.
Southwest Adds Its Seventh Airline Partner: ANA
After Southwest added its first partner, Icelandair, in 2025, it has partnered up with China Airlines, EVA Air, Philippine Airlines, Condor, and Turkish Airlines. In less than a year, the proudly domestic Southwest has definitely begun an international strategy in a big way.
The partnership with ANA, its fifth Asian airline, is scant on details at the time of writing. What we do know from LinkedIn posts by Southwest's Global Account Manager and Regional Manager International is that, as of March 10, 2026, Southwest and ANA customers can purchase itineraries from shared gateways in the U.S. to destinations served by both airlines.
Those gateway airports are:
- Honolulu (HNL)
- Seattle (SEA)
- San Francisco (SFO)
- Los Angeles (LAX)
- Chicago (ORD)
- Washington-Dulles (IAD)
This partnership is still rolling out
Upon reviewing both Southwest and ANA’s websites, it doesn’t appear that flights from the new partnership are populating yet. This has also been the case with several other recent Southwest partnerships.
For now, that means it’s not possible to book these itineraries with Rapid Rewards points, but hopefully that functionality is on the way. So, stay tuned to AwardWallet Learn for future updates.
This partnership adds significant connectivity for Southwest passengers, as ANA serves nearly 100 destinations, including more than 50 domestic destinations within Japan. For ANA customers, the benefit is access to Southwest’s extensive domestic network from the listed gateway cities.
Partnerships like this can also reduce friction during the travel experience, such as allowing checked bags to be tagged through to a final destination. And there’s also a certain level of comfort in booking an international itinerary through the website of a familiar domestic carrier.
Related: Southwest Rapid Rewards Guide: How the 2025 Changes Are Reshaping the Program
Bottom Line
Building on an incredible year of partnerships in 2025, Southwest is off to a fast start in 2026 with the announcement of a new partnership with ANA. Plus, these LinkedIn posts also tease that additional partnerships are “on the way,” so this could be just one of several announcements this year.
