In a lopsided vote of 16-1, the Houston City Council approved plans by Southwest Airlines to upgrade Hobby Airport for international service.
The carrier, which plans to finance the construction of a five-gate international terminal, has said it is prepared to begin service from the city-owned facility to points in Mexico, the Caribbean and Latin America by 2015.
Southwest would have rent-free use of four of the gates.
United, which acquired Continental’s massive hub at Houston’s Bush Intercontinental Airport, had lobbied hard against the proposal saying it would fragment the traffic base and weaken the region’s economy.