New terminal will help city fly high into future
Airports often hold people’s first and last memories of a place. They mark the beginning and end of journeys, and with each departure comes the anticipation of what will unfold, just as with each return comes the familiarity of home. Airports are places of coming together and moving apart that touch the full spectrum of human experience and emotion.
Airports can also be stressful — we all know the angst of the TSA line — but they should be efficient and reflect a sense of place.
The San Antonio International airport, as it is, falls well short of expectations for a city of our size and with our aspirations, so we are thrilled to see the city’s $2.5 billion plan for a new terminal building and other upgrades to South Texas’ main air hub. Our only wish is this plan had launched sooner, and that it was even bigger.
At an Editorial Board meeting Tuesday, Mayor Ron Nirenberg said the project will transform the airport from an “Achilles’ heel for the city’s economy to one that is a strength.”
We agree.
For years, people have complained about the facility that the city outgrew decades ago. And for years, people have studied the problem, lamented the lost business opportunities and longed for change.
Since 2017, the mayor’s Air Service Development Committee has worked to answer the question of where and what the city’s airport of the future should be? Their conclusion—update and re-imagine the airport at its current location.
We agree on this point, too. Many airports are in the outskirts of the community. The San Antonio International Airport’s central location is an asset, not a liability.
Now we have a vision for the airport that could support the city for the next 40 to 50 years.
“I believe it makes a statement about our city, and more specifically, it makes a statement about the future of our city, and where we’re headed,” Nirenberg said.
City manager Erik Walsh called the endeavor “the biggest capital project the city’s ever undertaken,” and there’s much to admire in the plan.
The new terminal, that will be adjacent to Terminal B, is expected to open in 2028, although Walsh hinted it could open sooner. The 832,500 square-foot facility will more than double the existing terminal space and offer 17 additional gates as well as increased concession, club and seating space. It’s also expected to offer at least eight more security screening lanes and triple the size of the federal inspection station area.
Roadway improvements will streamline the flow through the airport, and a new ground transportation center will include a connection to VIA’S advanced rapid transit line that’s slated to become
operational in 2027.
Enhancing the customer experience, ensuring accessibility and growing business are priorities for airport leadership.
Beyond adding capacity and amenities, the project will also pave the way for future technologies and create a sense of place. It will honor the region’s history and culture and incorporate the area’s natural colors and landscape.
Design is at 15 percent, but the early renderings offer visions of floor-toceiling windows, open spaces bathed in sunlight and outdoor courtyards and paseos with native trees and plants.
Some 9.4 million passengers passed through the San Antonio airport in 2022, and officials expect that number to hit 10 million in 2023. With the expansion, they’re expecting anywhere from 12 million to 15 million annual passengers.
Airport planners are already looking at what comes after the new terminal and ways to sustain and grow the airport as technology evolves.
And the timing is right to take advantage of the bipartisan federal infrastructure deal. The city has applied for federal grants to help offset the terminal’s construction costs.
“I’m not going to sit here for another 25 years and wait for another debate to happen before we start building the airport of the future,” Nirenberg said. “We’ve got to get going now.”
The new terminal and associated improvements will mark the start of a new era for the city and its airport. It’s past time to take flight.