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Massive remake in the works for San Antonio International Airport, including new Term
Massive remake in the works for San Antonio International Airport, including new Terminal A
Randy Diamond, Staff writer
SA Express News
San Antonio International Airport could be in for a mammoth makeover that would include demolishing and replacing Terminal A — which is as cramped as it is nondescript — and building a third terminal.
Airport officials’ emerging plan also is expected to call for the renovation of Terminal B within the next two decades.
The potential price tag for a redone Terminal A and a new Terminal C: about $2 billion, which would make the airport’s redevelopment one of the biggest capital projects in the city’s history.
“We have ambitious plans and want to move as quickly as possible to build new terminals,” said John Dickson, chairman of the mayor-appointed Airport System Development Committee.
Airport officials presented the proposed redesign at community meetings this week. Though still a work in progress, the plan represents the most detailed picture to date of what the second-tier airport could look like in the near future.
Aviation Director Jesus Saenz Jr. is expected to discuss the proposals with the City Council on March 3.
The airport committee, which began its work in 2018, is looking to finish the plan by late summer or early fall and then present it to the council for approval.
It’s unclear how long it would take to build the new terminals, but Dickson — tapped by Mayor Ron Nirenberg three years ago to lead the committee — said he hoped they’d be finished in less than five years.
Airport officials and consultants crafting the plan have yet to detail the costs or how to pay for the redevelopment. But consultants say replacing Terminal A would easily cost $1 billion and that building a third terminal would add another $1 billion.
Financing for the project likely would come from a combination of sources, such as bond issues, passenger fees, federal grants and contributions from airlines.
While COVID-19 has cut passenger traffic at San Antonio International to about a third of 2019 levels, airline analysts expect the travel industry to bounce back by 2024.
“We have an opportunity to design the first post-COVID terminals, with more open space and more customer-centric dining facilities interspersed between gates,” said Dickson, co-owner of the cybersecurity firm Denim Group.
That would be a stark contrast to the current Terminal A.
The nearly 40-year-old facility is “functionally obsolete,” John van Woensel, lead consultant for the airport plan, said at meetings this week. The terminal’s narrow corridors don’t meet the standards of today’s passengers, and the terminal is marred by inadequate baggage claim areas and restrooms and by an aging electrical system, he said.
Before the pandemic slashed the number of passengers, if two planes arrived at once, baggage claim would be jam-packed for half an hour or more.
“It’s not an acceptable level of service,” said van Woensel, a vice president at WSP USA, a New York consulting firm.
At their widest, the terminal’s corridors are 71 feet across, well below the modern standard of 110 feet for domestic gates and 140 feet for international gates.
Terminal A has 16 gates, and Terminal B — opened in late 2010 — has an additional eight.
Terminal B likely would need renovations by 2040, officials said. The strategic plan encompasses the next two decades.
The new Terminal C would include 12 to 15 gates, addressing an expected shortage of 12 gates by 2040, based on an estimated increase of planes arriving and departing. Airport officials say their growth projection was based on 2019 levels.
They are currently studying the pandemic’s effect on airport operations to determine whether to adjust the estimated number of gates the facility will need.
One thing appears certain: The facilities would be built with a San Antonio flavor. A common complaint — among passengers and city officials — is that the terminals are bland.
Nirenberg has called the facilities antiseptic, saying the two existing terminals were built in an era of government penny-pinching.
At this week’s community meetings, Saenz said design principles for the new facilities will reflect San Antonio’s culture.
“It’s related to our commitment to bringing more of a sense of place to our terminals,” he said.
Design consultants at the meetings said the new terminals would incorporate local art and history.
They also would incorporate more food options, which travelers filling out surveys at San Antonio International said they wanted.
“Concessions, especially food, were really on people’s mind,” van Woensel said. “More options, bigger restaurants, more fast-casual.”
The surveys also revealed that travelers were peeved that Terminals A and B aren’t connected beyond security checkpoints, limiting food and other concession choices.
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