By: Melissa Manno | From: San Antonio Express News
Three new nonstop routes are taking flight from San Antonio International Airport this month, bringing its total of nonstops to 45.
The airport officially added its eighth international destination Saturday with the launch of service to Torreón, Mexico. The Viva Aerobus service is available on Tuesdays and Saturdays, making San Antonio one of just two U.S. cities to offer nonstop flights to Torreón, the airport said.
It’s the Mexican low-cost airline’s fifth nonstop destination from the Alamo City. The one-and-a-half-hour flight departs San Antonio at 12:05 p.m. and lands in Mexico at 12:35 p.m. local time, according to data from Google Flights. Return flights depart at 1:35 p.m. and arrive in San Antonio at 4:10 p.m.
Beginning Tuesday, Southwest Airlines will begin offering a direct flight from San Antonio to Hollywood Burbank Airport in California. The route will run daily, departing at 12:10 p.m. and arriving in Burbank at 1:05 p.m. Pacific time.
Return flights from the Los Angeles County airport depart at 1:50 p.m. Pacific time and arrive in San Antonio at 6:45 p.m. The flight is just under three hours.
Texans looking to escape summer heat can also opt for milder weather in Pennsylvania with American Airlines' new service to Philadelphia. Its first flight to the nation’s birthplace is set to depart Wednesday.
Daily flights will leave San Antonio at 1:07 p.m. and arrive in Philly at 5:50 p.m. Eastern time. Return flights will depart from the East Coast at 9:37 a.m. Eastern time and land in San Antonio at 12:27 p.m., with a flight time of three and a half hours.
“These new destinations are important to both our business and leisure travelers,” Jesus H. Saenz Jr., the city’s director of airports, said in a statement.
The new routes come as San Antonio International Airport celebrates 12 straight months of record passenger numbers. In April, the airport reported a 7% increase in passengers compared with last year, marking the busiest April in its history, with more than 911,000 passengers.
“More people are flying than ever before and we’re constantly working on adding even more destinations to meet that demand,” San Antonio Chief Air Service Development Officer Jacob Tyler said in a statement.
In May, Condor Airlines began nonstop service to Frankfurt, Germany, making history as San Antonio’s first nonstop flight to Europe.
The city is also working to secure long-sought nonstop air service to Washington, D.C. Last month, Congress passed a bill reauthorizing the Federal Aviation Administration that opened five new round-trip flights out of the D.C. airport. San Antonio International Airport has teamed up with American Airlines to secure one of those slots.