Quote:
Originally Posted by texboy
It’s interesting that you can read on this forum that ABIA can pull from the San Antonio statistical market and nobody blinks an eye, but when San Antonio uses that same market statistic area to talk about the area it can potentially pull from, it’s seen as a ‘joke’. But it is in fact true and there are statistics out there that back up the claim that SA does pull some passengers from the same market that Austin uses to talk about its potential pax.
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Austin hasn't claimed a catchment area encompassing 5.2 million people. Also, the statement insinuates that SAT is the only choice for said individuals.
Catchment areas are often expressed as being within 60-to-90 minute drive from a specific point. In this case, an airport. Therefore, neither SAT nor AUS can claim a catchment area ("service region") of 5.2 million.
Additionally, just because someone chooses to fly out of a particular airport does not necessarily mean that the area around said individual is in that airport's catchment area. For example, say you live in SA and choose to drive 2.5/3 hours to IAH for an international flight. Because this occurred does not make SA apart of IAH's catchment area. Just as if someone in Jarrell decided to drive 2 hours to fly out of SAT for some reason. That does not make Jarrell apart of SAT's catchment area.
I believe AUS's catchment area consists of the five-county core metropolitan area plus the adjacent counties to those five. I cannot remember...it's something like 16-20 counties. For the most part, it stretches into the Hill Country, north toward Killeen/Temple, and east of the metro area. SAT and AUS share a few counties in-between the airports.