Southwest Airlines announced Thursday that it is ramping up service in and out of San Diego in anticipation of the airport’s new and much larger Terminal 1, which will make its debut late next month.

Not only is the airline resuming service to several destinations it discontinued over the last few years — like Maui — but it’s also expanding the frequency of a number of nonstop routes it already flies.

While most of the changes won’t take effect until March 5, the announcement is a sign that Southwest, which is San Diego’s single largest carrier in terms of departures and passengers carried, is responding to the imminent debut of the mega Terminal 1 project.

The opening next month marks the completion of Phase 1, which will have the same number of gates as the existing terminal — 19 — b

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