SAN ANTONIO | City and Metro Transportation Thread

[texastarkus]

It seems Frontier Airways is adding a non-stop flight from San Antonio International to Raleigh-Durham. It's great news. Let's keep growing!


https://www.mysanantonio.com/busines...r-12561460.php

[Rynetwo]

San Antonio International Airport, which set several passenger records in 2017, has extended that streak.

More than 702,500 ticket holders passed through the Alamo City terminals in January. That’s the 19th consecutive month in which the airport hit a new high for passenger activity...... Brian Pratte, air services administrator for the city said airport officials are “actively pursuing” more markets, including potential transatlantic flights.

https://www.bizjournals.com/sananton...reak-with.html

[Fireoutofclay]

San Antonio, Austin ranked among best airports in North America
By Joshua Kleinstreuer
http://spectrumlocalnews.com
March 6, 2018 @4:08 PM
http://spectrumlocalnews.com/tx/austin/news/2018/03/06/san-antonio--austin-ranked-among-best-airports-in-north-america

Out of the 48 different airports in the North American category, the San Antonio International Airport and Austin-Bergstrom International Airport tied for third place along with six other airports.

Each year the awards are given to the airports around the globe that demonstrate commitment to providing an excellent customer experience.

[GoldenBoot]

Originally Posted by Rynetwo

https://www.bizjournals.com/sananton...reak-with.html

Great news! That says a lot about this region as AUS, additionally, was up (by more than 13%) in January.

[texboy]

Originally Posted by Rynetwo

https://www.bizjournals.com/sananton...reak-with.html

I can't imagine a transatlantic is too far off. Time for SAT to start taking back some of those passengers from Austin!

[ILUVSAT]

Originally Posted by texboy

I can't imagine a transatlantic is too far off. Time for SAT to start taking back some of those passengers from Austin!

It may be farther off than one might think. There is still the challenge of SAT having "short" runways.

Also, who will service the route? Not BA. Not Norwegian. And, I think the idea that AUS is "stealing" passengers from SAT is quite overblown. Yes, some of us fly out of Austin...but, it is not as many as some lead one to believe.

[texboy]

Originally Posted by ILUVSAT

It may be farther off than one might think. There is still the challenge of SAT having "short" runways.

Also, who will service the route? Not BA. Not Norwegian. And, I think the idea that AUS is "stealing" passengers from SAT is quite overblown. Yes, some of us fly out of Austin...but, it is not as many as some lead one to believe.

Well, why would leaders from the airport be pursuing transatlantic flights if the runways are too short to service those routes? And I'm posing this as a serious question, not a snide question. I would imagine there's some general knowledge on that team of aircraft type and what is feasible at SAT. I can think of several cities that service European destinations that one may scratch their head at... Kansas City just received an Icelandair flight on a B757... although not mainland Europe, that is still considered transatlantic. Cinci has a Delta flight to Charles De Gaulle and Wow also now has flights out of there. I just read on the Austin forum that some of the international aircraft coming in there are using the 7000' runway there to land and take off some of those aircraft. I'm just saying, seems like transatlantic isn't far fetched any more, especially now that the tech industry seems to be taking more notice of SA. I think SA could handle something to Europe, and I think city leaders know that. I think the big question is finding an airline that can find a way to make connections work from other airports through SA.

[SAtown]

Originally Posted by ILUVSAT

It may be farther off than one might think. There is still the challenge of SAT having "short" runways.

Also, who will service the route? Not BA. Not Norwegian. And, I think the idea that AUS is "stealing" passengers from SAT is quite overblown. Yes, some of us fly out of Austin...but, it is not as many as some lead one to believe.

From what I understand, there is double the "leakage" to Houston than there is to Austin from San Antonio, probably due to Houston being an international airport. Thought that was interesting!

[GoldenBoot]

Originally Posted by texboy

Well, why would leaders from the airport be pursuing transatlantic flights if the runways are too short to service those routes? And I'm posing this as a serious question, not a snide question. I would imagine there's some general knowledge on that team of aircraft type and what is feasible at SAT.

One might need to gauge interest prior to seeking funding for extending a runway. It could also simply be political hotair. In all seriousness, I'm sure they may be "talking" with airlines. But, are a long way off from landing a route.

Originally Posted by texboy

I can think of several cities that service European destinations that one may scratch their head at... Kansas City just received an Icelandair flight on a B757... although not mainland Europe, that is still considered transatlantic. Cinci has a Delta flight to Charles De Gaulle and Wow also now has flights out of there.

Icelendair now serves DFW...so I do not think that is a option at this point. Also, I'm not sure the B752 can make it from KEF to SAT.

Furthermore, all of the airports you mentioned have runways over 9,000 feet in length. And, their (KC and Cinci) real GDPs are greater than that of SA's.

Originally Posted by texboy

I just read on the Austin forum that some of the international aircraft coming in there are using the 7000' runway there to land and take off some of those aircraft.

Incorrect. Austin's shortest runway is 9,000 feet in length. You were reading a post about New Orleans' short runway and how it receives their BA flight (which I believe is 3-4 times weekly). Take-off is a whole other deal. I believe the B788/B789 requires at least 10,000 feet to safely depart (as an example). Other types of equipment require more. New Orleans' longest of their two runways is 10,000 feet.

Originally Posted by texboy

I'm just saying, seems like transatlantic isn't far fetched any more, especially now that the tech industry seems to be taking more notice of SA. I think SA could handle something to Europe, and I think city leaders know that. I think the big question is finding an airline that can find a way to make connections work from other airports through SA.

Possibly. However, the tech industry is still in its toddlerhood in SA. Heck, SA's overpowering industry leader, tourism, has not provided enough market demand for a TATL route...yet.

[ILUVSAT]

8,500' may be long enough, for the right aircraft, if they minimize it's overall weight (thus, impacting revenue - which is not good). However, even with minimizing weight, it will be tough for it to be considered "safe" during the long, hot summer - when it takes longer to get the proper lift to rotate a large aircraft.

[JACKinBeantown]

Originally Posted by ILUVSAT

8,500' may be long enough, for the right aircraft, if they minimize it's overall weight (thus, impacting revenue - which is not good). However, even with minimizing weight, it will be tough for it to be considered "safe" during the long, hot summer - when it takes longer to get the proper lift to rotate a large aircraft.

Runway 4/22 (the one on the east side of the airport) could be extended to the northeast. (Or is it called Runway 3/21?) It would be costly but it could technically happen. There's clearance in that direction and it would be feasible if the Wurzback Parkway were to go under the extended runway and/or flight path.

https://www.google.com/maps/place/Sa...!4d-98.4683484

.

[JRG1974]

Originally Posted by JACKinBeantown

Runway 4/22 (the one on the east side of the airport) could be extended to the northeast. (Or is it called Runway 3/21?) It would be costly but it could technically happen. There's clearance in that direction and it would be feasible if the Wurzback Parkway were to go under the extended runway and/or flight path.

https://www.google.com/maps/place/Sa...!4d-98.4683484

.

It is runway 3-21. It can easily be extended to 10,000 ft. To take if much beyond that would start to encroach on Salado Creek. The airport is conducting a watershed study on that area now. Since the extra length is mainly for take off, you could extend the runway to the south closer to 410.
Not sure how much room they are required to have. If you can extend to the south and mitigate impacts to the north at the creek, you could even get to 11,000 ft. That should be long enough for any of the wide-bodies that would be flying in and out of San Antonio.

[mklunder13]

The technicalities aside, lets maybe have some fun and brainstorm potential transatlantic flights that could be feasible if we did have a proper runaway length. I feel like a flight to Frankfurt on Lufthansa would be a good option. Also considering Lufthansa is apart of Star Alliance with United and United has a decent presence at SAT.
I also am surprised that SAT isn't considering expanding into the Central/South American market. That could be a smart move since it's something Austin hasn't really done at all yet. Just spit balling, but cities like Panama City, Bogota, Lima, and the obvious but more farfetched, Rio & Sao Paolo. But just to cover my bases so I don't get attacked for proposing ideas, I know near to nothing about the logistics.

[ILUVSAT]

Originally Posted by mklunder13

The technicalities aside, lets maybe have some fun and brainstorm potential transatlantic flights that could be feasible if we did have a proper runaway length. I feel like a flight to Frankfurt on Lufthansa would be a good option. Also considering Lufthansa is apart of Star Alliance with United and United has a decent presence at SAT.
I also am surprised that SAT isn't considering expanding into the Central/South American market. That could be a smart move since it's something Austin hasn't really done at all yet. Just spit balling, but cities like Panama City, Bogota, Lima, and the obvious but more farfetched, Rio & Sao Paolo. But just to cover my bases so I don't get attacked for proposing ideas, I know near to nothing about the logistics.

Lufthansa could be a possibility...

Regarding Central & South American routes...both SAT and AUS can go as bonkers as they want in creating wish-list destinations. However, it is not up to a specific airport in creating the route. It's always up to the airline. And they will only create new routes if they deem there to be a market for them - and if they will be profitable.

For example, if Delta does move forward in making AUS (at least) a Focus City, I would imagine seeing some Central and/or South American routes introduced - as passengers will be funneled through AUS on the specific route (i.e., more potential passengers than just local O&D's).

At this point, I don't think any legacy airline is looking at our airport as a potential Focus City.

[babysal]

I'm hearing new service will be announced very soon!

[ILUVSAT]

Originally Posted by babysal

I'm hearing new service will be announced very soon!

You Tease!


In all seriousness...will this be intra-continental? Annual or Seasonal? What's the proposed weekly frequency?

[SAguy]

Originally Posted by babysal

I'm hearing new service will be announced very soon!

That's awesome! I can't wait to hear the announcement.

[texboy]

Originally Posted by babysal

I'm hearing new service will be announced very soon!

More info please! Where are you hearing this from?

[Runner]

probably another nonstop to some city in Mexico.

[texboy]

Originally Posted by Runner

probably another nonstop to some city in Mexico.

Honestly, wouldn't shock me. Also, SA needs to get the ever elusive Boston non-stop. Its crazy to me SAT still does not serve that market directly.

I feel like at some point in the recent past, there was talk about focus on South American markets as well. But again, it sounds like SA officials have really focused the 'sexy' routes across the pond.