By: W. Scott Bailey
June 11, 2021
The expanded service comes as the Alamo City airport is seeing an increase in post-Covid traffic
San Antonio International Airport is gaining — and regaining — flights 15 months into the Covid-19 pandemic.
The latest additions are courtesy of Southwest Airlines, which plans to bring more service to and from the Alamo City this fall. The Dallas-based carrier said it will launch domestic flights linking SAT and Colorado Springs Airport beginning Nov. 23.
Local airport officials said Southwest will offer a limited number of flights from San Antonio to Colorado Springs to coincide with fall and winter holidays. It’s a trial run that could lead to expanded connectivity between the two markets.
Southwest is also restoring some flights to its San Antonio schedule. The airline plans to resume once-weekly service between SAT and Albuquerque International Sunport airport on Nov. 20. Depending on demand, that service could expand.
The added flights are a good sign.
In December, with travel in San Antonio and across the U.S. down considerably due to Covid-19, I reported that Southwest has informed the Texas Workforce Commission of plans to furlough more than 150 employees in the Alamo City. That was part of a larger cost-cutting effort impacting some 1,200 Texas workers.
Business has picked up. In April, I reported that JetBlue Airways was expanding its reach to San Antonio. In October, the carrier plans to launch service between SAT and New York York’s John F. Kennedy International Airport, as well as Boston Logan International Airport.
Also in April, for the first time since the novel coronavirus was declared a pandemic in March 2020, the monthly passenger count at San Antonio International eclipsed the 500,000 mark. More than 546,000 passengers flew into or out of the Alamo City airport in April.
“We are actually doing better and trending better than the national average,” said Jesus Saenz, director of airports for the San Antonio Airport System.
The rise in domestic travel through SAT is especially important as more airlines look to adjust or expand their presence in San Antonio.
