Southwest Airlines finally announced its initial routes and fares from Denver, and as promised, it's a small start. With 13 daily departures, they'll have more than jetBlue and Airtran, but fewer than such titans as United (309), Frontier (153), and Great Lakes (66). (Hey, don't laugh. Great Lakes can get you from Denver to Kingman, AZ in just five easy hops.)
They'll fly to Chicago ($79 one-way), Las Vegas, and Phonenix ($59 one-way, each), starting on January 3, with a 21-day advance purchase. Just for fun, I looked up the current low airfares from Denver to each of those cities, roundtrip, January 5, returning January 8. They are, Chicago: $252, Las Vegas, $206, and Phoenix, $178. (Source: Orbitz)
Now, of course, I'll have to track those numbers daily until service starts, to see if there really is going to be a Southwest effect.
