Southwest's Orlando Lounge Plan Emerges in Airport Paperwork
Airport procurement documents and an airline source point to a Southwest Airlines club inside Orlando International's Airside 2 expansion, bringing the known tally of planned lounge locations to eight of at least 11.
What travelers need to know
- What happened: A Southwest Airlines source and a trail of Orlando International Airport planning documents indicate the carrier is adding an airport lounge to the Airside 2 terminal expansion.
- Who's affected: Southwest flyers passing through Orlando, plus travelers tracking the airline's broader lounge rollout at Austin, Baltimore, Honolulu and Nashville.
- Where: Orlando International Airport's Airside 2 (gates 100-129 on Concourse 2), with the proposed club on level three and an optional terrace.
- When: Southwest's first four confirmed lounges are under construction now, with guests expected starting in ; no construction timeline has been disclosed for Orlando.
- What to do: No lounge access changes yet — Southwest has not formally announced Orlando as one of its lounge cities, so travelers should watch for an official confirmation before expecting a club there.
Southwest Airlines is working on plans for an airport lounge in Orlando, according to a source at the airline cited by View from the Wing. The outlet reports that public procurement records from Orlando International Airport corroborate the plan, even though Southwest has not officially named Orlando among its lounge cities.
The airline's main footprint at Orlando sits in Airside 2, covering gates 100 through 129, which is undergoing a terminal expansion. According to View from the Wing, that expansion quietly picked up an airline club component a few months ago, positioned on level three with an optional terrace included in the design scope.
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Paper trail points to a level-three club
View from the Wing had flagged Orlando as a likely candidate for a Southwest lounge back in August, citing the Airside 2 buildout and the airline's heavy passenger volume there. New construction, the outlet noted, gives Southwest a chance to lock in lounge space that would be far harder to carve out of an existing terminal.
The documentary evidence goes beyond the airport's general public description of the project, which otherwise references a new third wing and additional gates. An April 2 presentation to contractors lists "Airline club space (Level 3)" as part of the Airside 2 work, per View from the Wing. A June solicitation for design and engineering services goes further, specifying an "Airline club/lounge facility, including vertical circulation, optional terrace, and support spaces." An August capital planning document, meanwhile, shows the overall expansion budget climbing from $374 million to $681.9 million — a jump that the airport ties to the new wing, added aircraft parking positions and a premium lounge. No document reviewed discloses the planned size of the Orlando club.
Four lounges under construction, four more identified
Southwest announced in September that construction had already started on its first four lounges, with guests expected by late 2027. Details on those four, as reported by View from the Wing:
| Airport | Size | Location |
|---|---|---|
| Austin | 20,000 sq ft | West Infill space above the new security checkpoint |
| Baltimore | Roughly 30,000 sq ft | Likely the new Concourse A/B connector |
| Honolulu | 12,241 sq ft across two levels | Former Garden Conference Center beside the Cultural Gardens |
| Nashville | Not disclosed | Not disclosed |
The Austin lounge was originally envisioned as a bank-branded lounge before Southwest claimed the space, according to View from the Wing's earlier reporting. The airline is expected to eventually relocate that lounge once Austin's new concourse opens in the early 2030s, since Southwest has secured 40,000 square feet of lounge space total under the airport's new use and lease agreement — potentially leaving the original Austin space to become a Chase lounge. In Honolulu, Southwest's lease for the former conference center was expanded from its original terms to reach the current 12,241-square-foot footprint.
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Southwest has committed publicly to building at least 11 lounges, though it has named only four. Combining those official announcements with executive remarks, airport planning records and the newly surfaced Orlando documents brings the known pipeline to eight airports. Which three or more locations remain unidentified — and when Southwest will confirm Orlando outright — is still unclear.
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