Southwest's lounge map grows to eight known sites as Orlando Airside 2 documents point to a Level 3 club

Southwest Airlines appears to be planning a lounge at Orlando International Airport. View from the Wing reported on October 12 that the lounge would sit on Level 3 of the airport's Airside 2 expansion. The report cites an unnamed Southwest source and public airport documents. Southwest has not announced Orlando. If confirmed, it would be the eighth known location in a network the airline says will reach at least 11 lounges.

What the Orlando documents show

The Greater Orlando Aviation Authority is expanding Airside 2, the concourse that houses Southwest's gates 100 to 129. The airport's project page describes at least seven new gates, dual-use ramp space and more overnight aircraft parking. It does not mention a lounge.

Other airport documents do. According to View from the Wing, an April 2026 presentation to contractors listed "Airline club space (Level 3)." A June design solicitation described an airline club and lounge facility with vertical circulation, an optional terrace and support spaces. An August 2026 capital planning paper proposes raising the Airside 2 budget from $374 million to $681.9 million. That document lists "Hardstands and Premium Lounge" among the scope elements behind the increase. It does not name Southwest.

So the airport is planning a premium lounge on Airside 2. The link to Southwest rests on View from the Wing's reporting and its source. Neither Southwest nor the airport has confirmed it publicly. No size, opening date or operator has been published.

The four announced lounges

Southwest confirmed its first four lounges on September 2, 2026. Construction has begun in Austin, Baltimore, Honolulu and Nashville. The airline expects the first guests in late 2027. The release says "at least seven more lounges" are planned "over the next several years across high-demand business and leisure markets." Lounge Frog covered the original announcement.

View from the Wing has pieced together details from local documents. Austin's lounge is about 20,000 square feet, in space above the new security checkpoint. Southwest has leased 40,000 square feet in total there. Baltimore's is roughly 30,000 square feet, likely in the new Concourse A/B connector. Honolulu's occupies the former Garden Conference Center, 12,241 square feet over two levels. Nashville's is 30,000 square feet above Acme Feed & Seed in the central terminal, with a bar, buffet, grab-and-go food, a mother's room and a children's area. Southwest's own release did not publish these figures.

The evidence-based three

Three more cities have paper trails but no Southwest announcement. In Denver, CEO Bob Jordan has said Southwest is leasing lounge space, according to View from the Wing. The likely site is the Concourse C East expansion. At Dallas Love Field, redevelopment plans include lounge space, and Southwest holds 19 of the airport's 20 gates. At Washington National, the Terminal 1 redevelopment includes a 10,000-square-foot lounge, but that timeline runs into the 2030s.

Orlando joins this group. That makes four announced, four evidence-based, eight known in all. Southwest has committed to at least 11. At least three sites remain unidentified.

What is still unknown

The candidates for the remaining slots are familiar Southwest strongholds. View from the Wing lists Houston Hobby, Chicago Midway, Las Vegas, Phoenix and St. Louis. None has a documented Southwest lounge allocation. Midway has little obvious space for a large club.

Access rules are also unknown. Southwest says a new premium Rapid Rewards credit card from Chase will launch in 2027 and provide lounge access. The network is being built with Chase and will draw on the Chase Sapphire Reserve Lounge Network. Southwest has not said whether other passengers can buy day passes, or whether guests are allowed. That question matters in Orlando, where families bound for theme parks make up much of the traffic.

No pricing has been disclosed. No Orlando opening date exists, and the Airside 2 expansion is still in planning. Treat Orlando as likely, not certain, until Southwest or the airport says so.

Why it matters

Southwest has never operated a lounge. Several of its largest stations have long had thin premium ground service; see the US airports that still have no lounge at all. An Orlando lounge would put Southwest on the ground at one of the busiest leisure airports in the country, at the concourse where it already holds its gates. The Airside 2 budget documents show the airport is willing to pay for a premium lounge. Who runs it, and who gets in, are the questions Southwest has yet to answer.