Quote:
Originally Posted by texboy
At the end of the day, a 10k runway should be a basic necessity for any medium size airport. The fact of the matter here is that SA has cheaped out for so long on stuff like this and the terminals, that it starts to look daunting fixing it ... I've said this before on this topic.... the horse has to come before the cart on this. Literally. You can't land a plane on a runway that can't handle it. You build something like this with the idea that the service may not materialize immediately. But I'll say this, if they don't do it, the airlines are going to continue to pass over SA and who knows what will happen in the coming years... ie economic downturn(s) etc. There is no other way around it. So what if they don't get trans Atlantic service in the decade... at the very least, cargo companies can expand operations and upgauge aircraft, as it seems they have already expressed interest in doing so.
I work at DIA as a construction PM. We have a dedicated PM that is managing the process for the 7th runway that is currently under development. Current outlook is 6 to 10 years to get it built. Not to say that it'll take that long to extend the runway here, but it takes alot more effort to get something like this done, and you have to lay the ground work early. Airlines aren't going to project out 3 to 5 years for a POSSIBLE runway extension.
This needs to happen. Period. It shouldn't even be a debate on here. The more we say "eh, we'll do it later" the longer it'll be before airlines, and San Antonio air travelers take the airport as a serious option. Otherwise, we can just be happy with sending SA residents to Austin.
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Agree with most of this. First time I flew through Terminal B at SAT, it felt very bare bones, basic and cheap. Still is. Terminal A, while updated and improved, isn't the long term solution.
I always expected airport officials to expand Runway 4/22 rather than 13R/31L. And I find it hard to believe Runway 13R/31L could be extended without interfering with 281. The picture is hard to see, but it looks like the expansion is a displaced threshold, meaning aircraft can use it for takeoff, but not landing.
As much as I know we try to keep Austin out of these conversations, airlines seem to view the markets as one or the other. They are not looking to expand to both. This is evidenced when Aeromexico pulled out of AUS and doubled its service to SAT, while Air Canada pulled out of SAT and doubled its service at AUS.
Opening new markets is expensive, especially when talking about transatlantic service. They have to lease a gate, hire or lease a ground crew, etc. Airlines will not take a risk, especially in this Covid environment. Hence why I think SAT should look at Central American/South American carriers. AUS has nearly all of the major European carriers, I doubt they're going to be interested in opening up a new market where they have a thriving market just 80 miles northeast, especially if they know San Antonians are willing to drive to AUS to catch those flights.
But I agree, complete the runway expansion now, while traffic is slow and it causes the least disruption, rather than wait and not have it and get passed up.