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.