San Antonio International Airport News & Updates

[kingkirbythe....]

San Antonio economic development group launches fund to entice more nonstop flights to the airport

https://www.expressnews.com/business...t-17292963.php

Local executives and politicians have long groused about a lack of nonstop flights from San Antonio International Airport, calling it a roadblock to companies’ expansion and relocation here.

The airport’s schedule is also a frequent complaint of leisure travelers, some of whom would rather drive 90 minutes to Austin-Bergstrom International Airport to catch a direct flight.

Now, business leaders are opening their checkbooks to do something about it.

...

‘Leverage our resources’

Generating private sector muscle to lure more flights was one of the goals Greater:SATX set last year in its strategic plan. Along with the airport, the fund will work with Visit San Antonio and the largest companies headquartered in the region.

...

Airport’s struggles

But it has been difficult for San Antonio International to attract direct flights to key destinations sought by travelers. That’s led to more travelers heading elsewhere to fly.

The airport was losing about 7 percent of its potential local customers to the Austin airport and 5 percent to Houston’s airports, according to an October 2018 report by Seabury Consulting commissioned by airport officials.

...

Paying for it

The airport’s overhaul is the city’s priciest capital undertaking in decades, and federal money and airport revenue bonds are expected to cover the cost.

The city plans to seek as much as $150 million per year over the next five years through the $1.2 trillion infrastructure package President Joe Biden signed last year.

The Biden administration announced Thursday it was awarding almost $1 billion to 85 airports for terminal upgrades. Saenz said the San Antonio airport was not included in that round.

...

‘Pent-up demand’

“We know the pent-up demand. We are actively having conversations with airlines,” Saucedo-Herrera said, but lacked a means to address the issue. The new fund changes that. “Every other community around the country does it. San Antonio was just behind the curve.”

To get business leaders to invest, Greater:SATX, the airport and Visit San Antonio executives had to come up with a solution and demonstrate that a fund such as this will help make the airport more competitive, she said.

[texboy]

Finally feel like SAT is thinking big. They need to put the pedal to the metal on expansion though. This 20 year timeline they keep talking about is frankly ridiculous. I realize that they will need to get C built in order to move on the other phases of the project, but I sincerely, hope design and bidding will be underway on A and B before they complete C so they can get moving immediately after C's opening. IMO, B needs to go right after C is complete to get the central terminal finished and hobble along with A during that time. That way when the central terminal is complete with its 8 ish gates, A can be torn down and rebuilt in phases while passengers enjoy a majority new airport by the early 30's.

[babysal]

[IMG][/IMG]

[texboy]

Originally Posted by babysal

[IMG][/IMG]

Nice! Any guesses as to what this is?

[babysal]

San Antonio could back new privately funded air incentive program with more public-sector firepower

By W. Scott Bailey – Senior Reporter, San Antonio Business Journal
Jul 11, 2022


As the City of San Antonio advances a $2.5 billion airport expansion and improvements plan it’s also aggressively pursuing new flights to a list of target markets -- both domestically and internationally -- that backers believe will spur new economic activity in the region.

That push comes as private-sector leaders are launching a new incentive fund that could entice more airlines to expand their reach to and from San Antonio International Airport.

“We've got key areas of the world and of the country that are high-priority markets,” City Manager Erik Walsh said. “Beefing up travel to those areas is key.”

City officials’ U.S. target list includes key Bay Area markets, as well as North Carolina’s research triangle, anchored by Raleigh, Durham and Chapel Hill.

Internationally, San Antonio has its sights on Canada and Europe, including Frankfurt and London.

Those are among what Walsh characterizes as “important entry points” for San Antonio based on the variety of economic opportunities they represent.

San Antonio will have more incentives to entice airlines that can serve such routes. I reported on July 7 that greater:SATX was launching a new air service development fund to help attract more nonstop flights. While the more than $3 million in seed funding for the program will come from the private sector, Walsh said the city could contribute to the program to bolster airline recruitment.

"I want to make sure that we're leveraging the dollars that the private sector is putting up,” he said, noting it will be imperative moving forward that the city be fully engaged with private-sector stakeholders, including greater:SATX and Visit San Antonio, in the air expansion effort.

The competition is intense. San Antonio officials are up against Midwestern states, for example, according to city officials, that are funneling federal Covid relief dollars into air inventive plans. Some of that competition is much closer to home.

The push for an expanded air incentive strategy and the targeting of specific connection points became more intense after City Council approved late last year the historic airport expansion and improvements plan. Walsh says new funds to back that strategy will need to be allocated where they can have the greatest impact.

“We’ve got to have a broader vision and we've got to be able to implement it,” Walsh said. “The demand will be there.”

[theOGalexd]

Maybe I'm wrong, but I think I remember flying on a direct from RDU to SAT when I was younger, maybe 2008-09? (I think the airline was ExpressJet)

I've always been surprised we don't have a direct there. Not sure what other flight is needed to the Bay Area though. San Jose? Thought we already had directs to SF and Oakland. Los Angeles area seems more necessary (Burbank, Long Beach, OC)

It'd be cool to see the direct to Toronto come back, and ofc London and Frankfurt.

[texboy]

SAT in the past has only held press conferences for a new airline or a major new route, so I’m going to take a guess this is a new airline or the return of a Toronto direct on maybe West Jet.

[theOGalexd]

Originally Posted by texboy

SAT in the past has only held press conferences for a new airline or a major new route, so I’m going to take a guess this is a new airline or the return of a Toronto direct on maybe West Jet.

AUS has directs to Raleigh on American, Delta and Southwest, so I'd assume one of those carriers. Southwest would be my guess. I don't think any of those have had directs to RDU from here before but I could be wrong.

Bringing back a Toronto flight would be good for the city though for sure.

[AI0120]

Oakland also posted an exciting announcement for this week, not sure if it's related. Maybe the return of Southwest to Oakland?

Doubt it's transatlantic. Most of those announcements happen in the fall/winter. I doubt Air Canada as well because they have been canceling/delaying a lot of flights as they are experiencing crew shortages.

Hopefully something of substance though. Last time the airport had a major announcement, it was JetBlue to Boston and New York.

[texboy]

Originally Posted by AI0120

Oakland also posted an exciting announcement for this week, not sure if it's related. Maybe the return of Southwest to Oakland?

Doubt it's transatlantic. Most of those announcements happen in the fall/winter. I doubt Air Canada as well because they have been canceling/delaying a lot of flights as they are experiencing crew shortages.

Hopefully something of substance though. Last time the airport had a major announcement, it was JetBlue to Boston and New York.

Interesting point. Southwest was one of the carriers asking for additional gate capacity, so they could be ramping up ops now that those gates are due to be complete later this year.

[texboy]

Spirit Airlines Goes Big in Texas by Bringing Ultra-Low Fares and Nonstop Service to San Antonio

MIRAMAR, Fla., July 12, 2022 /PRNewswire/ -- Spirit Airlines (NYSE: SAVE) is "Spurring" more convenient travel options with the announcement of its new, nonstop service from San Antonio International Airport (SAT). The new service launches with daily, nonstop routes to Las Vegas (LAS) and Orlando (MCO), offering affordable options to the two popular leisure destinations.

No new cities, and I would say it was inevitable that Spirit would make its way to SAT. Not the exciting announcement I hoped for. And with it looking more likely that JetBlue will win the bidding war for them... I highly doubt these routes will stay in place over the long term as JetBlue will more than likely convert Spirit aircraft to suit the JB business model.

[Tornado]

always good to have another carrier to choose from but I hope they stick.

[ILUVSAT]

Originally Posted by AI0120

Doubt it's transatlantic. Most of those announcements happen in the fall/winter.

I still don't think there is any chance SAT gets a transatlantic flight until they extend one of their runways.

[AI0120]

Least it was something.
Oakland Airport's announcement ended up being an online parking reservation system lol.
One thing I don't get is why not FLL? From the latest data, SAT-FLL in 2021 quarter 4 was 246 passengers per day. With WN dropping the route, they would have had no competition. With LAS, there are 4 airlines currently on the route, with MCO, 2. Good for consumers I suppose.

https://www.kens5.com/article/travel...0-fbcbd9cdeebd

Interesting quote from this article, "We look forward to being here in San Antonio," the airline says. 24 new planes are expected to be added this year and 33 next year, the airline said. The airline is expected to give another announcement in November."

Wonder if they mean an announcement for SAT or just Spirit in general.

[texboy]

Originally Posted by AI0120

Least it was something.
Oakland Airport's announcement ended up being an online parking reservation system lol.
One thing I don't get is why not FLL? From the latest data, SAT-FLL in 2021 quarter 4 was 246 passengers per day. With WN dropping the route, they would have had no competition. With LAS, there are 4 airlines currently on the route, with MCO, 2. Good for consumers I suppose.

https://www.kens5.com/article/travel...0-fbcbd9cdeebd

Interesting quote from this article, "We look forward to being here in San Antonio," the airline says. 24 new planes are expected to be added this year and 33 next year, the airline said. The airline is expected to give another announcement in November."

Wonder if they mean an announcement for SAT or just Spirit in general.

Oddly enough, I just read on an Express News Article thats paywalled, that Spirit served SAT back in 2008 to FLL, but dropped the flight the following year, I assume because of the Recession.

[theOGalexd]

Originally Posted by AI0120

Least it was something.
Oakland Airport's announcement ended up being an online parking reservation system lol.
One thing I don't get is why not FLL? From the latest data, SAT-FLL in 2021 quarter 4 was 246 passengers per day. With WN dropping the route, they would have had no competition. With LAS, there are 4 airlines currently on the route, with MCO, 2. Good for consumers I suppose.

https://www.kens5.com/article/travel...0-fbcbd9cdeebd

Interesting quote from this article, "We look forward to being here in San Antonio," the airline says. 24 new planes are expected to be added this year and 33 next year, the airline said. The airline is expected to give another announcement in November."

Wonder if they mean an announcement for SAT or just Spirit in general.

Yeah it beats me why SW hasn't brought back the flight to Fort Lauderdale. I have a feeling Spirit will do decently here. Wouldn't be surprised if they added flights to FLL/MIA + LAX.

[Onward]

Originally Posted by theOGalexd

Yeah it beats me why SW hasn't brought back the flight to Fort Lauderdale. I have a feeling Spirit will do decently here. Wouldn't be surprised if they added flights to FLL/MIA + LAX.

I was surprised when I saw they went with LAS/MCO. Both routes have decent coverage already. I always figured if they came back, service would have included FLL having no competition currently. But they have the numbers, so I'm sure they know what they're doing. Perhaps down the road as mentioned they add FLL.

JetBlue is another good option for that route. If BOS/JFK prove to be successful for them, that would be the next logical destination if they were to add service.

[texboy]

STRIDES TOWARDS RECOVERY

As the airport continues to rebound from the COVID-19 pandemic, San Antonio International
Airport (SAT)’s passenger numbers reached 861,248 in June 2022 representing an 13.9%
increase compared to the same month in 2021. Many people took to the skies again during the
month on long overdue trips including a resurgence in business travel demand.

[AI0120]

Q1 2022 stats came out for airport markets in terms of passengers daily each way. Top unserved market out of SAT is unsurprisingly
Fort Lauderdale at 237 passengers
New York-LGA at 163 (it will never be served due to perimeter restrictions)
Sacramento at 154
Portland, OR at 135
Indianapolis at 116

Top 5 airports out of SAT are (not including airports used for connections)
Denver-785
Las Vegas-742
Atlanta-548
Los Angeles-536
Orlando-523

[texboy]

Originally Posted by AI0120

Q1 2022 stats came out for airport markets in terms of passengers daily each way. Top unserved market out of SAT is unsurprisingly
Fort Lauderdale at 237 passengers
New York-LGA at 163 (it will never be served due to perimeter restrictions)
Sacramento at 154
Portland, OR at 135
Indianapolis at 116

Top 5 airports out of SAT are (not including airports used for connections)
Denver-785
Las Vegas-742
Atlanta-548
Los Angeles-536
Orlando-523

I want to say all of those markets in the unserved category save for LGA of course have all had directs out of SAT before. FLL on WN, SAC on WN, PDX on Sun Country and Indy on WN.

Denver is quite shocking as a full on destination being number 1 out of SAT. Would have thought LV being by far number 1. I will say whenever I possibly can I fly into SAT from Denver. Austin is such a cluster now, I just avoid it at all costs.