San Antonio International Airport News & Updates

[JACKinBeantown]

Originally Posted by Tornado

I think a terminal A upgrade/rebuild will definitely be in the cards but doesn't it make sense to just build a brand new Terminal C and then do some sort of rework on A down the line?

I was thinking that too. It seems it would be pretty simple to expand the width of the terminal halls to create more space, and also add restaurants and other amenities. But maybe there are internal working hurdles for behind the scenes stuff we're not aware of... I dunno. But if not, then yes, build Terminal C and then temporarily close and expand Terminal A to bring it up to date. They would even do one end at a time (maybe). And maybe I'm starting to babble.

[Tornado]

new article out in Express News about passenger traffic

https://www.expressnews.com/business...n-15671447.php

traffic still down by 2/3 compared to last year (no surprise). Also, currently there are only 29 non-stops offered compared to 42 before Covid.

Of interest is that that KSAT officials are in talks with airlines who would be new to the market (article brings up JetBlue & Spirit) but no confirmation from airport on who it is.

[AI0120]

More news on routes.

Interjet has been in pretty bad shape lately. Cancelled all flights earlier this November, their website has been down the past week, and even though they haven't flown from SAT since spring, I doubt we ever see them return.

Volaris is up-gauging Guadalajara to 4 weekly flights from April to June, up from 3 weekly. Volaris also adding 10 weekly MEX flights December through June, up from 6 weekly.

Southwest is suspending the following routes until March:
El Paso
Los Angeles
Kansas City
New Orleans
San Diego
St Louis
Tampa

Not just SAT suffering from Southwest cuts, nearly 100 routes on WN were suspended until March.

[Tornado]

Originally Posted by AI0120

More news on routes.

Interjet has been in pretty bad shape lately. Cancelled all flights earlier this November, their website has been down the past week, and even though they haven't flown from SAT since spring, I doubt we ever see them return.

Volaris is up-gauging Guadalajara to 4 weekly flights from April to June, up from 3 weekly. Volaris also adding 10 weekly MEX flights December through June, up from 6 weekly.

Southwest is suspending the following routes until March:
El Paso
Los Angeles
Kansas City
New Orleans
San Diego
St Louis
Tampa

Not just SAT suffering from Southwest cuts, nearly 100 routes on WN were suspended until March.

Good info, thx for sharing. I saw a thread on airliners.net talking about Southwest having more financial issues. I'd really like to see JetBlue come into the market place if Southwest is going to open up slots.

Regarding the flights to Mexico, I'd be curious to know how their passenger counts are going. I believe we have Volaris, Viva Aerobus, and AeroMexico all providing service.

[ILUVSAT]

This may be very beneficial to SAT's growth going forward...

https://www.routesonline.com/news/29...n-san-antonio/


To what extent, who knows. But, landing this conference is a big deal for SA and the region.

[texboy]

Originally Posted by ILUVSAT

This may be very beneficial to SAT's growth going forward...

https://www.routesonline.com/news/29...n-san-antonio/


To what extent, who knows. But, landing this conference is a big deal for SA and the region.

Good news... now if they can get the master plan and expansion plans drawn up by then... at least they'd have something to show the industry as a negotiating point for new routes.

[DomInSATX]

Hi everyone, I'm not sure if this information is legit since I haven't seen any press releases. I'll share it anyway since it was a good read and they have The Express News as their source.

San Antonio Airport Officials Seeking Longer Runway to Lure European Flights

***If the link did not work here is the URL.

https://www.aviationpros.com/aoa/run...ropean-flights

-And it's up on Expressnews.com now. (Paywall.)

[UrbanTrance]

Well that would be great *fingers crossed*

[texboy]

Originally Posted by DomInSATX

Hi everyone, I'm not sure if this information is legit since I haven't seen any press releases. I'll share it anyway since it was a good read and they have The Express News as their source.

San Antonio Airport Officials Seeking Longer Runway to Lure European Flights

***If the link did not work here is the URL.

https://www.aviationpros.com/aoa/run...ropean-flights

-And it's up on Expressnews.com now. (Paywall.)

Curious to see if there is a rendering of this.... last I remember, one of the more viable candidates for a 10k runway was buying the properties to the north of the airfield and using that for a second parallel as the land there is longer east to west without running over 281. I'm aware that they could just build up and do a bridge over 281, but have to wonder how that affects the homes and businesses to the west of the east/west runway.

[JACKinBeantown]

Originally Posted by texboy

Curious to see if there is a rendering of this.... last I remember, one of the more viable candidates for a 10k runway was buying the properties to the north of the airfield and using that for a second parallel as the land there is longer east to west without running over 281. I'm aware that they could just build up and do a bridge over 281, but have to wonder how that affects the homes and businesses to the west of the east/west runway.

I've always thought the other runway (parallel to Wetmore) would be a better candidate for extension. There's plenty of space to the north up toward the Wurzbach Parkway. They could easily build a highway-style elevated runway where the land goes down to the Mud Creek.
https://www.google.com/maps/place/Sa...!4d-98.3636131

[SproutingTowers]

D

[Tornado]

Originally Posted by SproutingTowers

San Antonio officials probably griping seeing AUS getting the Hawaiian Airlines direct flight. The FAA rejected the last SAT runway extension plans and probably will do it again where emphasis is expanding and creating an additional runway at AUS to be the third international hub for Texas with DFW and IAH.

no reason to troll on this thread. I love the ABIA thread and enjoy the productive discussion...I'd expect the same courtesy here.

I'm not flying Hawaiian from Austin. I'd rather connect in Dallas or Houston and take a United or American flight.

Can't speak to you about Austin becoming a hub...I'm assuming you are referring to the Delta talk. If you want to really know whats happening in the airline industry, go check out airliners.net.

Also, SAT will absolutely have to increase their runway length at some point and the approval will happen. I don't care if SAT ever gets a ton of Europe or Asia flights but I do care that I have a nice comfortable terminal to fly in and out of.

Our current set up is less than ideal and a major revamp is needed.

[DomInSATX]

Hi,
In responding to a request for a rendering, I pulled a fuzzy image from Mr. Saenz's presentation from the city council meeting on December 09. The main runway will be expanded in both directions to fit inside the current land area of the airport with no need for extension over U.S. 281.


(Jesus Saenz, presentation to San Antonio City Council)

The presentation is located following the provided link. It shows up at the 19 minute mark.

http://sanantonio.granicus.com/Media...2&clip_id=5424

I believe this expansion has been in the plans for some time. If I recall correctly, 2021 was when the city was going to speak with airlines about starting transatlantic service to Frankfurt. (Interesting fact, unlike most US cities, our largest European trading partner is Germany and not the UK.) In addition, the cargo operators (UPS and FedEx) are in strong support of this expansion. They want to use larger aircraft for operations instead of the DC11s/767s that are currently in use.

The expansion also sets the region up for South American flights* by making all of South America reachable by 788 or A359.

*I really think this is the main reason for the somewhat sudden push in runway expansion. Europe is nice but it isn't growing very fast, and the future growth projections for Latin America show explosive growth for the coming decades as those countries industrialize more and the quality of life gets better. With our region's growth as a hub for cybersecurity and growth in tech in general, San Antonio has gained a reputation as an area where Latin American tech companies can get a foothold in the US tech market. (My two cents. Also, from August to September, the SA Metro has a 21% growth rate in tech jobs, see the link below.)

https://www.bizjournals.com/sananton...th-report.html

[texboy]

Originally Posted by SproutingTowers

San Antonio officials probably griping seeing AUS getting the Hawaiian Airlines direct flight. The FAA rejected the last SAT runway extension plans and probably will do it again where emphasis is expanding and creating an additional runway at AUS to be the third international hub for Texas with DFW and IAH.

This has been in the works for well over a year now. Troll elsewhere please.

[Tornado]

Great information Dom, thank you for sharing the link. I always forget that South American destinations could be likely non-stop targets for SA. I am happy to see they are going to upgrade the cargo facilities on the West side of the airport (believe those are the ones by the airport post office, correct?

[ahealy]

So with this proposed extension, would this likely lure a direct euro route? Guessing BA to Heathrow for starters...

[Tornado]

Originally Posted by ahealy

So with this proposed extension, would this likely lure a direct euro route? Guessing BA to Heathrow for starters...

sounds like Germany would be first if a trans-atlantic were to happen

[texboy]

Originally Posted by Tornado

sounds like Germany would be first if a trans-atlantic were to happen

Yeah, especially if cargo is more lucrative to Germany than London. With Norwegian and other low costers seemingly on the brink now, who would be the potential airline? Lufthansa? As much as I'd like to see them, I'm not sure SA has the money to fill those planes as much as they would need to be.

[ahealy]

Originally Posted by texboy

Yeah, especially if cargo is more lucrative to Germany than London. With Norwegian and other low costers seemingly on the brink now, who would be the potential airline? Lufthansa? As much as I'd like to see them, I'm not sure SA has the money to fill those planes as much as they would need to be.

Idk, I am leaning toward BA to London. Lufthansa would be #2 for me. London is an easy sell for Americans who have never travelled over the pond....I can see that being very successful in SA.

[Tornado]

Dom seemed to have good insight into the airport happening and expansion. Would be interested to hear expanded thoughts from him/her.

Also, there used to be a great SAT airport group on Yahoo. Once Yahoo did away with groups, it went away and I'm not sure where those users went.