SAN ANTONIO – Roger and Rosemary Thompson said they fly out of the San Antonio International Airport frequently. And, they’re usually not flying direct.
“We can’t always get the direct flights,” Roger said. “It winds up being half a day travel or an ordeal, sometimes almost an entire day.”
The Thompson’s struggle is shared among many across San Antonio. Right now, the airport offers about 40 direct flights, with a nonstop to Philadelphia coming next summer. Also coming in 2024 is construction on the airport’s new terminal.
It’s something business groups, like the Greater San Antonio Chamber of Commerce, hope will bring new travelers and new direct flights to San Antonio.
“I’m very hopeful,” Dave Peterson, the interim president and CEO at San Antonio Chamber of Commerce, said.
And he’s not alone.
“I think access is power,” Danny Zimmermann, the executive principal and CFO at Cleary Zimmermann Engineers, said. “Having more direct flight options just increases that economic activity.”
City Council passed its $3.7 billion spending plan for the 2024 Fiscal Year this week. Based on previous KSAT reporting, the airport system, which includes both San Antonio International Airport and Stinson Municipal Airport, asked for nearly $292 million in capital projects to improve the airport system.
The money would help pay for the development of a new terminal and other projects in the airport’s development plan.
Jesus Saenz, the director of airports at SAT, said he’s constantly working on getting more flights to the airport.
“It’s an ever-evolving effort,” Saenz said. “The number of people that want to use this airport, this entire region is expanding. We should be preparing ourselves.”
A third terminal is planned for San Antonio International Airport. It will have the capacity for 17 more gates and will be situated next to the existing Terminal B on the northwest end of the airport’s current footprint. Takeoff in that terminal is set for 2028.