Southwest Airlines April 12 launched its new Richmond-to-Chicago nonstop service, which will run five days a week initially before increasing to daily in May. Chicago was the sixth most popular destination for travelers flying from Richmond International Airport in 2019, with more than 170,000 doing so. The new service will connect RIC to Chicago Midway. In addition to Chicago, Southwest will add nonstop service from Richmond to Denver (RIC's eighth most popular destination) May 9. The airline already provides service to and from Atlanta and seasonal service to and from Orlando and Tampa.