Dallas, Texas - Southwest Airlines Cargo has officially launched its international shipping operation with services to Mexico City.

Later this summer, the carrier intends to expand services further by adding the ability to ship between the US and Cancun, Puerto Vallarta, and Cabo San Lucas/Los Cabos before offering space between the US and other international destinations within its network.

"Our Teams have been hard at work getting ready for this historic milestone, and now we're set to take our award-winning Cargo services to places we've never been able to reach before," said Matt Buckley, Southwest's vice president of cargo and charters. "We can't wait to begin working with our Customers on both sides of the border and play a small role to help businesses grow."

This past spring, Southwest Cargo rolled out its new back office and point of sale system, Southwest Cargo Suite. The suite of products and Customer-facing solutions laid the foundation for this month's start of the carrier's international shipping program.

News that the airline was expanding its cargo operations internationally first broke in February. At the time, the airline was hoping services would be up and running by May.