San Antonio International Airport News & Updates

[texboy]

January 2023 Numbers

January Numbers are out, way above January 2022, but still a smidge behind 2019. International Numbers continue to climb though! With all the increases in service announced through May/June of 23', SAT should end the year over 10m PAX again.

San Antonio International Airport (SAT) continues to see passenger numbers rebound from the
COVID-19 pandemic. In January 2023, the airport’s passenger numbers reached 741,128. This
represents an increase of 31% compared to the same month in 2022.

The airport continues to compare its numbers to those in 2019 to better understand its recovery.
2019 was a record year for the airport with more than 10 million passengers flying through the
terminals. During January 2023, passenger levels were just shy of those seen during the
same month in 2019. The airport saw 98% of January 2019’s passenger levels.

Almost all airlines increased their operations from SAT significantly during the month
compared to the same month in 2022. The airlines with the largest increases in service
included Frontier Airlines (F9), United Airlines (UA), Southwest Airlines (WN), JetBlue Airways
(B6), American Airlines (AA), and Delta Air Lines (DL). Additionally, Spirit Airlines (NK) also
offered new, nonstop service during the month which was not available in January 2022.
Additionally, a total of 19,403,972 pounds of air cargo moved through SAT during the month
of January 2023. This is slightly below levels seen during the same month in both 2022 and
2019. For more detailed information see the included charts.

[ILUVSAT]

Originally Posted by texboy

January 2023 Numbers

January Numbers are out, way above January 2022, but still a smidge behind 2019. International Numbers continue to climb though! With all the increases in service announced through May/June of 23', SAT should end the year over 10m PAX again.

SAT is off and running!

[texboy]

Not super exciting, but a fully necessary part of the expansion.

SAT Marketing Contract

On Thursday the San Antonio City Council will vote on whether to approve a three-year contract worth up to $10 million for on-call advertising and marketing services for the terminal development program and concessionaires and to lure new carriers to the airport.

[babysal]

By W. Scott Bailey – Senior Reporter, San Antonio Business Journal
Mar 8, 2023

The sizable gains in passenger traffic San Antonio International Airport experienced in 2022 have carried over into the new year.

As the volume of ticketholders flying in and out of the North Side terminals is now nearly what it was in 2019, prior to the pandemic, more airlines are scrambling to meet that demand.

San Antonio International drew more than 741,000 passengers in January. That’s a 31% increase over the same month in 2022 and is just shy of the January 2019 tally.

By June, local airport officials expect airlines will have upped seat capacity at SAT by 16% over the same period a year ago.

“This is due to increases across multiple airline partners as they restore previous markets, add frequencies to existing markets or move to larger aircraft offering more seats,” Brian Pratte, chief air service and marketing officer for the city of San Antonio, told me.

Multiple carriers are moving to capture the increased business. Delta Airlines, for example, is restoring service to New York and increasing flight frequencies to Detroit and Minneapolis, while Southwest Airlines is adding back flights to Kansas City, according to Pratte.

Meanwhile, American Airlines is expanding service to Charlotte as Alaska Airlines returns a second daily flight to Seattle.

Frontier Airlines, United Airlines and American Airlines, along with Jet Blue Airways, Southwest and Delta, had the largest increases in service at SAT in January.

In February, I reported that Spirit Airlines was launching new nonstop service from San Antonio to Los Angeles aboard its 182-seat Airbus A320 aircraft beginning in May. This week, the carrier launched new flights to Baltimore and Fort Lauderdale.

Domestic passenger traffic was up 33.5% in January 2023 versus a year ago and was down less than 4% from 2019.

The overall passenger count at SAT in January was down less than 2% from the same point in 2019.

Several airlines flew more passengers in January than in the same month three years ago, showing not only recovery but significant growth in the San Antonio market, according to Pratte, who said additional flights are on the way.

“We see no signs of demand declining, and we continuously impress that upon our airline partners,” said Pratte, noting that San Antonio airport officials plan to meet with 16 airlines in in the next few weeks.

[texboy]

Originally Posted by babysal

By W. Scott Bailey – Senior Reporter, San Antonio Business Journal
Mar 8, 2023

The sizable gains in passenger traffic San Antonio International Airport experienced in 2022 have carried over into the new year.

As the volume of ticketholders flying in and out of the North Side terminals is now nearly what it was in 2019, prior to the pandemic, more airlines are scrambling to meet that demand.

San Antonio International drew more than 741,000 passengers in January. That’s a 31% increase over the same month in 2022 and is just shy of the January 2019 tally.

By June, local airport officials expect airlines will have upped seat capacity at SAT by 16% over the same period a year ago.

“This is due to increases across multiple airline partners as they restore previous markets, add frequencies to existing markets or move to larger aircraft offering more seats,” Brian Pratte, chief air service and marketing officer for the city of San Antonio, told me.

Multiple carriers are moving to capture the increased business. Delta Airlines, for example, is restoring service to New York and increasing flight frequencies to Detroit and Minneapolis, while Southwest Airlines is adding back flights to Kansas City, according to Pratte.

Meanwhile, American Airlines is expanding service to Charlotte as Alaska Airlines returns a second daily flight to Seattle.

Frontier Airlines, United Airlines and American Airlines, along with Jet Blue Airways, Southwest and Delta, had the largest increases in service at SAT in January.

In February, I reported that Spirit Airlines was launching new nonstop service from San Antonio to Los Angeles aboard its 182-seat Airbus A320 aircraft beginning in May. This week, the carrier launched new flights to Baltimore and Fort Lauderdale.

Domestic passenger traffic was up 33.5% in January 2023 versus a year ago and was down less than 4% from 2019.

The overall passenger count at SAT in January was down less than 2% from the same point in 2019.

Several airlines flew more passengers in January than in the same month three years ago, showing not only recovery but significant growth in the San Antonio market, according to Pratte, who said additional flights are on the way.

“We see no signs of demand declining, and we continuously impress that upon our airline partners,” said Pratte, noting that San Antonio airport officials plan to meet with 16 airlines in in the next few weeks.

Numbers are good, not many airports see 31% increases year over year, even coming back from the Pandemic. SAT officials talking about meeting with airlines is like my dating life, always talking, but never moving out of that phase. lol Meetings with 16 airlines seems like quite alot though.

[theOGalexd]

Interesting, I wonder what's planned. My guess would probably be other LA Area airports, Raleigh, Portland, Toronto and possibly vacation spots like Cabo/PV/Punta Cana would be the next steps.

[cole world11]

Interesting the article from this week mentions increased frequencies on Delta from MSP but I just booked a flight down for a wedding in July and still twice daily. I wonder when that will take effect.

And I fully agree on OG's point from above about the vacation destinations. SAT has good service to Mexico, might as well get those (other) fun destinations served. Now with year-round service to Cancun, at least seasonal service to Cabo or Puerto Vallarta doesn't seem like a hard pitch. Who would be the most likely to service is my question.

Did anyone else see a post (LinkedIn for me) about Southwest increasing frequency to San Diego to twice daily? Another good win!

[texboy]

Originally Posted by cole world11

Interesting the article from this week mentions increased frequencies on Delta from MSP but I just booked a flight down for a wedding in July and still twice daily. I wonder when that will take effect.

And I fully agree on OG's point from above about the vacation destinations. SAT has good service to Mexico, might as well get those (other) fun destinations served. Now with year-round service to Cancun, at least seasonal service to Cabo or Puerto Vallarta doesn't seem like a hard pitch. Who would be the most likely to service is my question.

Did anyone else see a post (LinkedIn for me) about Southwest increasing frequency to San Diego to twice daily? Another good win!

SAT actually announced the new twice daily to SD on their insta! Big win there in my book.

[DomInSATX]

Originally Posted by cole world11

Interesting the article from this week mentions increased frequencies on Delta from MSP but I just booked a flight down for a wedding in July and still twice daily. I wonder when that will take effect.

And I fully agree on OG's point from above about the vacation destinations. SAT has good service to Mexico, might as well get those (other) fun destinations served. Now with year-round service to Cancun, at least seasonal service to Cabo or Puerto Vallarta doesn't seem like a hard pitch. Who would be the most likely to service is my question.

Did anyone else see a post (LinkedIn for me) about Southwest increasing frequency to San Diego to twice daily? Another good win!

If or when Mexico gets its FAA Category 1 rating back, I think it would be Viva Aerobus who would likely offer those destinations. (I think someone posted a statement from their president or CEO on here about that during the Routes 2022 presentation.) Right now I use Southwest to go to these destinations and I would happily fly direct with VB over a transfer and customs at Hobby, that would cut around three hours of transit time just coming back home.

[futuresooner]

Originally Posted by texboy

SAT actually announced the new twice daily to SD on their insta! Big win there in my book.

Between the leisure and military traffic between both, it's a very smart decision. I have to fly to SD often for military activities, so this definitely helps in the longer term.

[AI0120]

Upcoming schedule changes I have noticed

Delta SAT-DTW goes from 2x daily to 3x daily beginning May 8

Delta SAT-JFK begins 1x daily May 8

American SAT-MIA goes from 1x daily to 2x beginning June 1, back to 1x daily August 15

American SAT-DFW goes from 8x daily to 10x daily beginning June 1

Southwest SAT-SAN goes from 1x daily to 2x daily beginning October 5

Southwest SAT-BWI goes from 1x to 2x daily beginning April 11, then 2x daily to 3x daily beginning July 11

Southwest SAT-DEN goes from 4x daily to 5x daily beginning April 11

Southwest SAT-LAS goes from 3x daily to 4x daily beginning May 7

Southwest SAT-LAX goes from 1x daily to 2x daily beginning May 7

Sun Country SAT-CUN returns May 26 and operates Sun, Mon, Thurs, Fri

Sun Country SAT-MSP returns May 8 and operates Mon, Fri

Spirit SAT-LAX begins 1x daily May 5

[texboy]

Originally Posted by AI0120

Upcoming schedule changes I have noticed

Delta SAT-DTW goes from 2x daily to 3x daily beginning May 8

Delta SAT-JFK begins 1x daily May 8

American SAT-MIA goes from 1x daily to 2x beginning June 1, back to 1x daily August 15

American SAT-DFW goes from 8x daily to 10x daily beginning June 1

Southwest SAT-SAN goes from 1x daily to 2x daily beginning October 5

Southwest SAT-BWI goes from 1x to 2x daily beginning April 11, then 2x daily to 3x daily beginning July 11

Southwest SAT-DEN goes from 4x daily to 5x daily beginning April 11

Southwest SAT-LAS goes from 3x daily to 4x daily beginning May 7

Southwest SAT-LAX goes from 1x daily to 2x daily beginning May 7

Sun Country SAT-CUN returns May 26 and operates Sun, Mon, Thurs, Fri

Sun Country SAT-MSP returns May 8 and operates Mon, Fri

Spirit SAT-LAX begins 1x daily May 5

Wow... these are significant increases!

[theOGalexd]

3x daily to Detroit and Baltimore is surprising. Good for SA. I'm surprised the SW route to LAX is only once a day. Is American the same? Also kinda surprised Miami has only been 1x/day.

Edit: nvm I forgot Delta flies there too. I've only flown AA and SW to Los Angeles from SA. Looks like American and Delta are both 2x/day.

[babysal]

From City of San Antonio
4/4/2023

San Antonio (April 4, 2023) – With summer travel on the horizon, travelers have even more options to choose from out of San Antonio International Airport (SAT). This summer is expected to be the busiest in SAT’s history. Overall, the airport is expecting up to 10% more seats flying in and out of the airport than in the summer of 2019.

Many airlines will increase nonstop service from SAT in the coming months. The enhanced flight options include destinations as far away as the West Coast, the East Coast, the Midwest and Mexico:

 Delta Air Lines will relaunch daily nonstop service to New York (JFK) starting May 8 as well as add a third daily flight to both Detroit (DTW) starting May 8 and Minneapolis-St. Paul (MSP) starting June 20.
 Sun Country Airlines will resume seasonal service to Minneapolis-St. Paul (MSP) and Cancun (CUN) before Memorial Day. The Cancun flight will be operated Sundays, Mondays, Thursdays and Fridays through mid-August.
 Southwest Airlines will increase nonstop service to Cancun to daily starting June 3, add a third daily flight for weekdays to Baltimore/Washington (BWI) and increase service to Kansas City (MCI) to daily starting July 11.
 Spirit Airlines will add daily flights to Los Angeles (LAX) starting May 5.

“We’re so happy to see these new routes added just in time for summer—like Spirit Airlines starting nonstop service to California next month and to see Delta, Sun Country and Southwest all add more flights,” said Jesus H. Saenz, Director of Airports, San Antonio Airport System. “This increase in air service means more competitive fares giving more families the ability to travel and enjoy memorable experiences together.”

Additionally, Southwest already announced it is increasing its service to San Diego (SAN) to twice daily starting on Oct. 5.

[Tornado]

Good to see the increase in flights. Flew out to vegas on a sold out flight last week and sold out on the way back. Harry Reid is always such a dud of an airport. You’d expect vegas to have something to match the glitz and glam of the Strip.


It has been about 6 months since I last flew out of SAT. Food was fast and on point at La Gloria. Bathrooms were nice and clean. Def give it an A this go around

[ILUVSAT]

Originally Posted by babysal

...Overall, the airport is expecting up to 10% more seats flying in and out of the airport than in the summer of 2019.

This is exciting! Maybe SAT will realize a new all-time high for total passengers in 2023.

[babysal]

San Antonio Business Journal
By W. Scott Bailey – Senior Reporter
May 1, 2023

The Alamo City may find itself in a heated race to deliver on a $2.5B airport expansion plan as air travel to and from San Antonio continues to escalate.

Three years after the pandemic all but grounded air travel, San Antonio International Airport could approach or top the record it set in 2019 when more than 10 million ticket holders passed through its two terminals.

San Antonio International handled more than 2.3 million passengers in the first quarter of 2023, according to data obtained by the Business Journal. That’s a nearly 19% spike over the first three months of 2022 and within 2.8% of the Q1 total in 2019.

“The first quarter was very strong with all indications that demand will continue to soar,” Brian Pratte, chief air services development officer for San Antonio International Airport, told me.

Domestic passenger traffic at SAT was up nearly 20% in the first three months of 2023 compared to the same period a year ago. That growth will likely continue as the Alamo City continues to gain more airline capacity.

Four carriers — Spirit, Delta, Sun Country and Southwest Airlines — are adding or resuming domestic flights to and from San Antonio over the balance of 2023. Alaska, American, Delta, Frontier, Southwest and United airlines added capacity on several U.S. flights to and from San Antonio International in March.

The Alamo City airport also saw healthy gains in international capacity in the first quarter of 2023.

“We are actively in discussions with airline partners, both incumbent and potential new, in regards to adding new nonstops and capacity to keep up with the demand growth,” Pratte said.

That comes as city officials advance plans for an airport expansion that will house up to 17 additional gates. That expansion is key as local airport officials note more recent data indicating that SAT is now outpacing 2019 traffic

“With the current rate of passenger growth, we could certainly exceed 2019 levels in 2023, barring any unforeseen shifts in the overall environment,” Pratte said.

[texboy]

Doing some quick numbers, that 2.3M PAX number means that March had at least 860K PAX, within 50k PAX of March 2019 numbers. Just about there!

[satx23]

Originally Posted by texboy

Doing some quick numbers, that 2.3M PAX number means that March had at least 860K PAX, within 50k PAX of March 2019 numbers. Just about there!

862,598 to be exact!

March 2023 - 862,598
March 2022 - 787,611
March 2019 - 907,349

https://flysanantonio.com/wp-content...-MAR-Stats.pdf

[texboy]

This topic comes up pretty much every year and it usually gets buried in some bill that either doesn't pass or some lobbyist from the airline industry manages to get it cut out of a bill that does pass. SAT should have either an exclusion from this rule or the 1250 perimeter needs to be increased/killed completely. They can control the amount of flights out of DCA with slots if they are so hard up on making sure people have to hike it out to BWI or Dulles. Its crazy that SA having the huge military presence that it does along with Cyber Security and Defense firms doesn't have one single direct into DCA.

San Antonio lawmakers push for nonstop flight to D.C.