Southwest Airlines is strengthening its foothold in San Diego with the announcement that it will add a nonstop flight to Santa Barbara and expand the frequency of flights to Portland, Ore., Seattle and Salt Lake City, beginning in late summer.

The news of still more flights comes just a month after rival Alaska Airlines announced it would be debuting a nonstop route between San Diego and Santa Barbara , in addition to four other new destinations. While Southwest is San Diego’s single-largest carrier, Alaska boasts that it offers flights to more destinations than any other airline operating out of San Diego International Airport.

Come Aug. 4, Southwest will launch the new once-daily flight to Santa Barbara. That’s several months later than Alaska’s Santa Barbara route, which will begin

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