Travel opportunities at the NY-NJ airports increased with the recent announcement that Southwest Airlines will operate flights from three assigned gates in Newark Liberty International Airport.

Under terms of the United Airlines-Continental Airlines merger, Southwest will lease slots for daily flights at Gates 10, 14 and 15 in Terminal A’s A-1 satellite. The airline will invest more than $2 million in Terminal A to improve its ticketing and gate space.

Six daily Southwest flights to Chicago-Midway and two to St. Louis will begin March 27. Three daily flights to both Baltimore and Denver, two to Houston-Hobby and two to Phoenix begin June 5.

Currently, the airline offers service at LaGuardia Airport with 10 daily flights to Baltimore/Washington and Chicago-Midway.

Newark Liberty Adds Service

Do you park frequently at the NY-NJ airports? Reward yourself and park for miles. The parking lots at Kennedy International, Newark Liberty International, and LaGuardia are enrolled in thanksagain, a program that enables you to automatically earn airline miles with your registered credit or debit card when you park on the airport.

Passengers can earn one mile from several major airlines for every $1 of on-airport parking purchases that are greater than $50. The program also includes an opportunity to earn up to 4,000 bonus miles every 90 days based on cumulative registered card purchases at the Port Authority’s airports and with local businesses nationwide.

The thanksagain program is expanding to NY-NJ airport concessions as well.

To participate, enroll securely, conveniently and for free via computer or a web-enabled phone at www.thanksagain.com/airports.

The use of NextGen in the busy air space of the NY-NJ airports advanced recently when the Federal Aviation Administration and JetBlue announced an agreement that will allow the airline to fly satellite-based flights from Kennedy International to Florida and the Caribbean beginning in 2012.

As many as 35 of JetBlue’s A320 aircraft will be equipped with NextGen avionics over the next two years, enabling them to fly in two major routes -- including a new one to the Caribbean -- off the U.S. East Coast.

By relying on a satellite rather than a ground-based system of air traffic control, NextGen can enhance safety and reduce aviation congestion. Efforts by the Port Authority and more than 800 members of the National Alliance to Advance NextGen have moved our nation’s airports closer to implementing a state-of-the-art system. To learn more, visit NextGen Now.