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It's Southwest Versus Northwest On Twin Cities Route

Just as Jetblue announced that they'll be dropping their "desert run" between Las Vegas and Salt Lake City on April 30, which is coincidentally the #1 city in America for downloading online porn, Southwest has turned our frown upside down with a new route from Minneapolis/St. Paul.

Infiltrating Northwest's Twin Cities hub is a major coup for Southwest, who will be flying from MSP to Chicago's Midway Airport and taking no prisoners along the way. Today marks the first day of the service, and we've been following the @SouthwestAir Twitter through the morning as the the first passengers receive free backrubs and Southwest CEO Gary Kelley makes the rounds.

Competition is very fierce in the under-served Midwest routes, especially when it comes to secondary airports like Midway. According to USA Today's Today in the Sky blog, "airfares between the Twin Cities and Chicago, which had been as low as $100 round-trip, started to rise as soon as AirTran exited." Add to this Southwest's notoriously low fares, and we could be witnessing the sown seeds of a Northwest and Southwest fare war. Hopefully this means we will soon reap $100 flights once again.

Related Stories
· Southwest Enters Minneapolis/St. Paul "fortress hub" [Today In the Sky]
· New Routes Coverage [Jaunted]

[Southwest at MSP check-in photo via Southwest's Twitter]