The newest statistics from the airport seem to inform a narrative of gradual restoration.
A complete of 763,606 passengers traveled by means of the San Antonio Worldwide Airport in December, knowledge launched by the airport present.
That quantity exceeds by 112% the identical month in 2020 when the pandemic put the brakes on a historically busy vacation journey season. But it surely’s nonetheless simply 86% of the full passengers seen in 2019, simply previous to the pandemic’s begin.
The Thanksgiving vacation journey season was additionally barely slower than standard, with passenger numbers in November reaching 89% of the degrees seen throughout November 2019.
Nationally, Dec. 23 was the busiest journey day in U.S. airports throughout that month, with over 2.1 million passengers, in accordance with journey checkpoint knowledge offered by the Transportation Security Administration. The busiest day for airports in the course of the earlier month, for Thanksgiving journey, was Nov. 28, with 2.45 million complete passengers.
Related passenger knowledge for San Antonio appear to point folks had been able to journey once more, regardless of the emergence of the brand new omicron variant and skyrocketing case numbers in late December.
In all of 2021, greater than 7.4 million passengers flew by means of the San Antonio airport, a bounce of 85% over the earlier 12 months. Passenger totals had been 72% decrease than 2019, a 12 months airport officers referred to as “record-breaking,” with greater than 10 million complete passengers.
Whereas the variety of flights out of San Antonio to locations inside america dropped by 16% over December 2019, worldwide site visitors elevated 27% resulting from added capability on a number of routes to Mexico throughout December.
A latest report offered by airport officers acknowledged that 2021 was a 12 months of restoration with all airways resuming service to markets that had been quickly suspended. Together with a return to regular within the variety of seats provided for some flights, airways additionally added just a few new routes, and two new carriers joined the common San Antonio lineup.
In Could, Viva Aerobus launched direct service to León, within the Mexican state of Guanajuato, and in June, Solar Nation began summer season seasonal service to Cancun.
Southwest Airways, the airport’s largest provider, provided a brand new, holiday-seasonal service to Colorado Springs, at the same time as its complete capability for the San Antonio airport remained beneath 38% of its 2019 capability. The provider struggled with thousands of canceled flights in the course of the fall and additional cancellations and delays in December.
As a result of that 38% is an annual determine, it doesn’t mirror the regular restoration that occurred later in 2021, bringing Southwest’s capability by December to 26% beneath that of 2019, in accordance with Brian Pratte, SAT’s chief air service growth officer.
“The primary a part of the 12 months was a bit tougher ready for demand to get better,” Pratte mentioned. “As leisure demand started to strengthen, most carriers started so as to add capability again into the market.”
Some carriers added capability quicker than others, he added, with the challenges of bringing again each flight crews and plane contributing to a slower rebound for capability.
Final 12 months, two new airways additionally started service in San Antonio in 2021.
In April, the city announced JetBlue Airways would start providing direct service in October to New York’s John F. Kennedy Worldwide Airport and Boston Logan Worldwide. New provider Breeze Airways selected San Antonio as one among its first markets and at present gives flights from San Antonio to Northwest Arkansas.
Regardless of ongoing virus surges affecting every part travel-related, from tourism to conventions and conferences, airport officers additionally count on new air service to launch from San Antonio this 12 months.
Southwest Airways is planning a brand new direct flight to Oklahoma Metropolis to begin April 25 with service 4 days per week, rising to 6 days in June. Delta Air Traces is scheduled to renew nonstop service to New York’s JFK Airport in Could and Solar Nation plans to restart its seasonal service to Minneapolis-St. Paul and Cancun, additionally in Could.
Beginning in June, United Airways is trying to enhance capability on its San Francisco route and Southwest Airways will begin new Saturday service to Albuquerque.
It stays to be seen whether or not customers are able to e book these flights.
A latest research by the airline commerce group International Air Transport Association discovered that aircraft tickets offered in December for any time in 2022 stood at half of the December 2019 degree.
As a result of vacationers are inclined to e book last-minute, the decline will most definitely be seen in precise site visitors volumes throughout January and February 2022, the report acknowledged.
Although the affiliation reported the gradual ticket gross sales pattern persevering with into the primary half of January, it predicts “fast enchancment” as soon as the omicron wave recedes and journey restrictions are eased.
In November, Metropolis Council authorized a 20-year, $2.5 billion undertaking to overhaul the San Antonio airport. The plan requires extending a runway, including a brand new terminal, rising the variety of gates and concessions, widening concourses, relocating the air site visitors management tower, and enhancing and rerouting roadways for car site visitors.
