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Originally Posted by Paul in S.A TX
Why you would want to compare SAT to a HUB(IAH) airport? All Hub airports have more passengers flowing through them reconnecting to other destinations, but how many of those passengers actually get off the plane or walk outside the airport? Hub airports will always have higher passenger counts than non hubs. Atlanta's airport has nearly 100 million passengers and it can't all be generated from just the local population.
San Antonio is the most visited city in Texas attracting 38 million annual visitors versus 22 million for Houston. Being a HUB raises a cities profile and definitely brings the best air service and higher passenger activity. Something SAT probably will never achieve if it doesn't think big.
Going on that notion of thinking big, should SAT try to build another airport? I wonder if a San Antonio/Austin airport would ever be a possibility? If that were to ever happen in the future I can see it becoming a hub for a major airliner.
SAT will always be a midsized airport because of its landlocked location and competition with ABIA that draws people from San Antonio. I know this for a fact because I saw an ABIA shuttle bus on I-35 between Shertz and New Braunfels. I've even flown out of ABIA once.
There will be a time when there is 8 million people living along the S.A./Austin corridor and served only by two mid sized airports.
An S.A./Austin airport joint venture would be the epitome of thinking big?
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That was my point.
HOU is a huge airport but it should be. SAT is not as bad as the article portrayed.