San Antonio International Airport

San Antonio International Airport (IATA: SAT, ICAO: KSAT, FAA LID: SAT) is an international airport in San Antonio, Texas, United States. It is in Uptown Central San Antonio, about 8 miles (13 km) north of Downtown. It has three runways and covers 2,600 acres (1,100 ha).[1][3] Its elevation is 809 feet (247 m) above sea level. SAT averages 260 daily departures and arrivals at its 27 gates, which serve 14 airlines flying non-stop to 53 destinations in the US and Mexico.[4]

San Antonio International Airport
Summary
Airport typePublic
OwnerCity of San Antonio
OperatorSan Antonio Aviation Department
ServesGreater San Antonio
LocationSan Antonio, Texas, U.S.
Elevation AMSL809 ft / 246 m
Coordinates29°31′36″N 098°28′19″W
Websitesanantonio.gov/SAT
Map
Runways
Direction Length Surface
ft m
04/22 8,505 2,592 Concrete
13L/31R 5,519 1,682 Asphalt
13R/31L 8,502 2,591 Concrete
Statistics (2022)
Total passengers9,462,449
Aircraft operations154,256
Total cargo (lbs.)268,167,283

History

Beginnings

San Antonio International Airport was founded in 1941 when the City of San Antonio purchased 1,200 acres (490 ha) of undeveloped land that was then north of the city limits (now part of the city's Uptown District) for a project to be called "San Antonio Municipal Airport." World War II wartime needs meant the airport was not fully finished till after the war.

A large portion of the northeast section of the airport was pressed into federal government service. This area was known as Alamo Field and was used by the United States Army Air Forces as a training base.[5] The 77th Reconnaissance Group, equipped with various aircraft (P-39, P-40, A-20, B-25, O-47, O-52, and L-5) trained reconnaissance personnel who later served overseas. One squadron (113th) flew antisubmarine patrols over the Gulf of Mexico.[6]

The first airline to serve the airport was Braniff Airlines in 1943, followed by American Airlines the following year.

In 1944 the airports name was changed from San Antonio Municipal Airport to the current name of San Antonio International Airport.

At the end of World War II the Alamo Field portion of the airport was no longer needed by the military and was turned over to the City of San Antonio for civil use.

Terminal 2 was built in 1951–53, along with the FAA control tower and a baggage claim area. For HemisFair '68, a new satellite concourse was built, containing eight jet bridge gates and passenger waiting areas.

In June 1971 the airport was one of three original destinations along with Dallas and Houston for new startup Southwest Airlines.

Expansion for a growing city

In 1975 the city adopted its first Airport Master Plan with plans for a new 1,300 space parking garage and a new 360,000 sq ft (33,000 m2) Terminal (formerly called Terminal 1, now called Terminal A). Once the new terminal was completed in 1984 it brought the airport's capacity up from eight gates to 27 gates. In 1986 a new 221-foot (67 m) FAA air traffic control tower was built at a new location.

In 1994 a second Airport Master Plan was developed that would take the airport into the 21st century. This plan included major updates for the airport: more parking spaces in a 3,000 space parking garage to be completed by 2007, improved airport access and an improved concession program. Two new terminals were planned to replace Terminal 2, to increase the airports gate count to 35.[7]

San Antonio boarded over 3.5 million passenger in 1999. Since 1966, the airport has boarded more than 80 million people.

Recent history

From February to September 2006, the airport was a focus city for United Airlines (the airline called it a "hublet") with flights to 12 cities in conjunction with partner Trans States Airlines. Trans States Airlines redeployed its aircraft elsewhere, eliminating service to seven cities.

Mexicana celebrated 50 years serving the airport in September 2007, but suspended service to San Antonio in August 2010 when the airline went bankrupt and suspended operations.

From April 2007 to September 2008 ExpressJet operated a focus city under its own branded operations at the airport. Many of the cities served were ones previously operated during the United Airlines focus city the previous year. All service ended when ExpressJet folded its branded operations.

On November 9, 2010, the original Terminal 2 closed, and Terminal B opened. Terminal 1 was then renamed Terminal A. The removal of fixtures in the old Terminal 2 began in January 2011. Final demolition of Terminal 2 was in May 2011.

In 2013, the SAT Customs and Border Protection became a Global Entry enrollment center.

In June 2015, officials announced that the three-story short-term parking garage, which was over 30 years old, would be closed and demolished to make way for a new seven-story parking garage and Consolidated Rental Car Center. Work began in early 2017 on the 1.8 million square feet facility, which was planned to house up to 14 rental car brands and short-term public parking. The public parking portion was completed in April 2017, and the rental car portion opened in January 2018.[8]

On Sept. 21, 2023 officials announced the airport would receive its first nonstop European route. The service will be operated by German Airline Condor on a 3 class Airbus A330-900 with service to Frankfurt, Germany.

Facilities

Terminals
Terminal A ticket counters

San Antonio International Airport has two terminals with an overall 27 jet bridge gates. The original one-level terminal (formerly Terminal 2) opened in 1953 with ground-loading holding areas and was expanded twice, once in 1959 with new east and west wings, and again in 1968 with an eight-gate satellite concourse, which was built to handle visitors to HemisFair '68. Terminal 2 closed on November 9, 2010, as the new Terminal B opened, and Terminal 2 began to be demolished in March 2011, with completion in January 2012. A second terminal (now Terminal A) opened in 1984 with a 16-gate concourse. The U.S. Customs and Border Protection facility is located in Terminal A.

Terminal A is the larger of the two concourses, with 17 gates in total. All international carriers operate out of Terminal A. On June 18, 2014, a $35.6 million renovation was completed for this terminal, with the most visible improvements to passengers being new terrazzo floors, updated food courts, and new signage. On October 15, 2014, all gates in Terminal A were renumbered in sequential order.[9] 12 of the current 14 airlines serving the airport operate from Terminal A. Including the Airports largest airline by passengers and routes served Southwest Airlines.

Terminal B opened in November 2010, containing eight gates. Corgan Associates, Inc. and 3D/International designed the new terminal.[10] American and Continental were the two original airlines at Terminal B. United, at the time located in Terminal A, moved into Terminal B on August 1, 2012, during the merger with Continental. A United Club is located between gates B3 and B5. The USO is located on the arrivals level of Terminal B next to baggage claim. In 2022 construction began to add two more gates to Terminal B in order to better accommodate increasing passenger numbers. Construction was completed in January 2023, bringing the total gates for Terminal B to ten.[11]

Airlines and destinations

Passenger
AirlinesDestinationsRefs
Aeroméxico Connect Mexico City [12]
Alaska Airlines Seattle/Tacoma [13]
Allegiant Air Las Vegas [14]
American Airlines Charlotte, Chicago–O'Hare, Dallas/Fort Worth, Los Angeles, Miami, Phoenix–Sky Harbor
Seasonal: Philadelphia (begins June 5, 2024)[15] 		[16]
American Eagle Chicago–O'Hare, Los Angeles [16]
Condor Seasonal: Frankfurt (begins May 17, 2024)[17] [18]
Delta Air Lines Atlanta, Detroit, Los Angeles, Minneapolis/St. Paul, New York–JFK, Salt Lake City [19]
Frontier Airlines Atlanta, Denver, Las Vegas, Orlando [20]
JetBlue Boston, New York–JFK [21]
Southwest Airlines Atlanta, Baltimore, Burbank (begins June 4, 2024),[22] Cancún, Chicago–Midway, Dallas–Love, Denver, El Paso, Houston–Hobby, Kansas City,[23] Las Vegas, Los Angeles, Nashville, New Orleans, Oklahoma City, Orlando, Phoenix–Sky Harbor, San Diego, St. Louis, Tampa
Seasonal: Albuquerque, Colorado Springs, Fort Lauderdale 		[24]
Spirit Airlines Baltimore, Fort Lauderdale, Las Vegas, Los Angeles, Newark (begins April 5, 2024),[25] Orlando [26]
Sun Country Airlines Seasonal: Cancún, Las Vegas, Minneapolis/St. Paul [27]
United Airlines Chicago–O'Hare, Denver, Houston–Intercontinental, Newark, San Francisco, Washington–Dulles [28]
United Express Houston–Intercontinental, San Francisco, Washington–Dulles [28]
Viva Aerobus León/Del Bajío, Mexico City, Monterrey, Querétaro (begins December 1, 2023),[29] Torreón (begins June 1, 2024)[30] [31]
Volaris Guadalajara, Mexico City [32]

Cargo
AirlinesDestinations
Ameriflight Brownwood, Corpus Christi, Dallas/Fort Worth, Del Rio, Midland, San Angelo
DHL Express Cincinnati
FedEx Express Fort Worth/Alliance, El Paso, Laredo, Memphis
Martinaire Brownwood, Corpus Christi, Del Rio, Eagle Pass, Houston–Intercontinental, Laredo
UPS Airlines Chicago/Rockford, El Paso, Guadalajara, Houston–Intercontinental, Fargo, Laredo, Louisville, McAllen, Miami, Monterrey
Seasonal: Raleigh/Durham

Statistics

Top destinations
Busiest domestic routes from SAT (August 2022 – July 2023)[33]
Rank City Passengers Carriers
1 Texas Dallas/Fort Worth, Texas 477,000 American
2 Georgia (U.S. state) Atlanta, Georgia 457,000 Frontier, Delta, Southwest
3 Colorado Denver, Colorado 375,000 Frontier, Southwest, United
4 Texas Houston–Intercontinental, Texas 308,000 United
5 Arizona Phoenix–Sky Harbor, Arizona 297,000 American, Southwest
6 Texas Dallas–Love, Texas 286,000 Southwest
7 Nevada Las Vegas, Nevada 279,000 Allegiant, Frontier, Southwest, Spirit, Sun Country
8 North Carolina Charlotte, North Carolina 210,000 American
9 California Los Angeles, California 201,000 American, Delta, Southwest, Spirit
10 Texas Houston–Hobby, Texas 177,000 Southwest
Largest airlines at SAT (August 2022 – July 2023)[33]
Rank Airline Passengers Share
1 Southwest Airlines 3,631,000 38.50%
2 American Airlines 1,953,000 20.71%
3 United Airlines 1,394,000 14.78%
4 Delta Air Lines 1,366,000 14.48%
5 Frontier Airlines 287,000 3.05%
Other 800,000 8.48%

Passenger numbers
Annual passenger traffic at SAT airport. See Wikidata query.

Annual traffic
Annual passenger traffic at SAT
2010–2022[34]
YearPassengersYearPassengers
20108,034,72020204,028,564
20118,171,82420217,464,662
20128,243,22120229,462,449
20138,252,3302023
20148,369,6282024
20158,507,4592025
20168,618,1392026
20179,063,5422027
201810,044,4112028
201910,363,0402029
Annual international passenger traffic at SAT
2010–2022[35]
YearPassengersYearPassengers
2010136,9702020207,684
2011182,0312021741,572
2012421,7182022555,808
2013474,6092023
2014464,7652024
2015511,4922025
2016400,0612026
2017368,3812027
2018415,1012028
2019467,4752029

Ground transportation

The airport has a 1.8 million square foot consolidated rental car facility completed in January 2018. The facility is reached via a sky bridge from the mezzanine level of Terminal B.

Via Metropolitan Transit routes 5 and 7 provide weekday service from the airport to downtown.[36]

Other facilities

ST Engineering maintains a large presence at the airport knows as SAA (San Antonio Aerospace) employing around 1,000 staff. The facilities were previously owned by Dee Howard Aircraft Maintenance and were purchased during the company's bankruptcy in 2002. The facility provides heavy maintenance and other services for numerous passenger and cargo airlines along with aircraft leasing operations. The most recent addition being a passenger to cargo conversion line for Airbus A320 series family.

Accidents and incidents

See also

References
  1. FAA Airport Form 5010 for SAT PDF, effective January 27, 2022
  2. "SAT Airport 2022 Passenger and Cargo Statistics" (PDF). flysanantonio.com. Retrieved February 10, 2023.
  3. "SAT airport data at skyvector.com". skyvector.com. Retrieved August 26, 2022.
  4. "Calendar Year 2014 Passenger Boardings at Commercial Service Airports" (PDF). Federal Aviation Administration. p. 1. Archived (PDF) from the original on October 6, 2015. Retrieved November 19, 2015.
  5. "An International Airport". San Antonio Conservation Society. Retrieved May 27, 2022.
  6. A History of Military Aviation in San Antonio. U.S. Department of Defense. 2000. p. 113. Alamo Field (today known as San Antonio International Airport). Used as an auxiliary field of Dyess Army Air Field and Brooks Field from 1942 until 1945.
  7. "Vision 2050 A Flight Plan for San Antonio's Future" (PDF). Archived (PDF) from the original on April 25, 2015. Retrieved September 17, 2015.
  8. San Antonio International Airport Opens New Consolidated Rental Car Facility
  9. "SAT". www.sanantonio.gov. Archived from the original on October 18, 2014. Retrieved October 15, 2014.
  10. "New Terminal B Opens at San Antonio International Airport - Clark Construction". www.clarkconstruction.com. Archived from the original on May 7, 2012. Retrieved June 4, 2012.
  11. "In time for holiday travel, two new gates set to open at San Antonio airport". San Antonio Report. November 2, 2022. Retrieved May 5, 2023.
  12. "Flight Schedule". Archived from the original on April 6, 2017. Retrieved March 30, 2018.
  13. Airlines, Alaska. "Flight timetable". Alaska Airlines. Archived from the original on February 2, 2017. Retrieved March 30, 2018.
  14. "Flight schedules and notifications". Archived from the original on February 24, 2011. Retrieved March 30, 2018.
  15. "American Resumes Philadelphia – San Antonio Service From June 2024". Aeroroutes. Retrieved August 21, 2023.
  16. "Flight schedules and notifications". Retrieved August 30, 2021.
  17. "San Antonio Airport adds direct flights to Germany with Condor in 2024". MySA. Retrieved September 21, 2023.
  18. condor.com – Flight schedule (German) retrieved November 3, 2021
  19. "FLIGHT SCHEDULES". Archived from the original on June 21, 2015. Retrieved March 30, 2018.
  20. "Frontier Airlines".
  21. "JetBlue And American Reveal New Routes And Expanded Premium Products". Simple Flying. July 20, 2021. Retrieved July 20, 2021.
  22. "Southwest Airlines Extends Flight Schedule With New International Options And Most-Ever Departures". Retrieved October 26, 2023.
  23. "Daily Nonstop Flights to Kansas City Return as San Antonio International Airport Celebrates Major Travel Records". San Antonio.Gov. December 20, 2022. Retrieved May 5, 2023.
  24. "Check Flight Schedules". Archived from the original on February 2, 2017. Retrieved March 30, 2018.
  25. "Spirit Airlines April 2024 Network Additions – 16OCT23". Aeroroutes. Retrieved October 17, 2023.
  26. "Spirit Airlines to launch daily, nonstop routes between San Antonio and Las Vegas, Orlando". July 12, 2022.
  27. "Route Map & Flight Schedule". Archived from the original on August 15, 2018. Retrieved March 30, 2018.
  28. "Timetable". Archived from the original on January 28, 2017. Retrieved March 30, 2018.
  29. "San Antonio airport's new nonstop flight to Mexico aims to serve business travel". sanantonioreport.org. Retrieved October 5, 2023.
  30. https://www.linkedin.com/posts/sanantoniointernaionalairportsat_flysat-activity-7117950975138566144-lXHZ?utm_source=share&utm_medium=member_desktop
  31. "New Routes for you".
  32. "These will be the flights that Volaris will operate during April". Transponder 1200 (in Spanish). April 2020. Retrieved April 12, 2020.
  33. "RITA | BTS | Transtats". Transtats.bts.gov. Retrieved October 16, 2023.
  34. "Airport Data - San Antonio International Airport". Archived from the original on July 15, 2018. Retrieved May 5, 2023.
  35. "Airport Data - San Antonio International Airport". Archived from the original on July 15, 2018. Retrieved September 27, 2023.
  36. https://www.viainfo.net/wp-content/uploads/2022/12/Schedule007CSP.pdf
  37. Accident description for N640NA at the Aviation Safety Network. Retrieved on June 25, 2023.
  38. Ley, Ana (October 29, 2012). "Plane makes emergency landing in S.A." Archived from the original on November 2, 2012. Retrieved October 29, 2012.
  39. Huertas, Rebecca Salinas, Tiffany (November 16, 2019). "Private jet crashes into parked plane on runway at San Antonio airport". KSAT. Retrieved December 2, 2019.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: multiple names: authors list (link)
  40. Cavazos, Fares Sabawi, Steven (December 2, 2019). "Three killed in plane crash near San Antonio International Airport". KSAT. Retrieved December 2, 2019.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: multiple names: authors list (link)
  41. Ranter, Harro. "Accident Piper PA-24-250 Comanche N6678P, 01 Dec 2019". aviation-safety.net. Retrieved May 27, 2022.
  42. Carson, Dan (June 26, 2023). "Airline worker 'ingested' by plane at TX airport died by suicide". Houston Chronicle. Retrieved June 27, 2023.
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