WASHINGTON, Dec 17 (Reuters) - The U.S. Transportation

Department on Tuesday finalized its awards of five new daily

round-trip flights from Washington Reagan National Airport to

major airlines.

The flights at the busy airport in Arlington, Virginia,

outside the nation's capital were mandated under legislation

signed in May by President Joe Biden. American Airlines

Delta Air Lines, United Airlines, Southwest

Airlines ( LUV ) and Alaska Airlines all are receiving

new flights after the department made tentative awards in

October. Carriers are to start new flights within 90 days.

Congress in May required the Transportation Department to

select five daily flights to expand service to cities without

direct service and boost competition in markets with existing

service.

The Washington region has three major airports, but

Reagan National is closest to the U.S. Capitol and downtown

Washington. Because of its short runways, the airport's main

runway is the busiest in the U.S., and Reagan is the

24th-busiest U.S. airport by passengers.

The flights chosen include a Delta flight to Seattle, a

Southwest ( LUV ) flight to Las Vegas and an American Airlines ( AAL ) daily

flight to San Antonio, Texas, which would connect the

seventh-largest U.S. city to the Washington-area airport. The

other new flights are Alaska Airlines to San Diego, the largest

market without direct flights to Reagan National, and a new

United Airlines flight to San Francisco.

The Transportation Department rejected a proposal by

JetBlue ( JBLU ) to add a flight to Puerto Rico.

Congress in 1966 said airplanes could only fly to

destinations within a 650-mile perimeter of National Airport,

with some exceptions, but decades later expanded the flight

distance to 1,250 miles. Since 2000, Congress has approved 25

daily flights, including the five new ones.

The fight over the new flights was a key reason an

aviation reform bill was delayed for more than six months.