Domestic travel goes up at airport

Passenger traffic to San Antonio International Airport grew by more than 8 percent in May as the airfield adds more nonstop routes, aviation officials said Tuesday.

More than 840,000 travelers passed through the San Antonio airport in May, according to figures provided by the airport — up 8.2 percent from the 777,000 who did so in May 2017.

“Our Air Service Team remains busy meeting with multiple airlines to strengthen our relationship and discuss continued growth, while also engaging with our community and keeping our customer’s needs as a top priority,” San Antonio Aviation Director

Russ Handy said in a news release.

Most of those passengers came from the U.S: almost 810,000, also an 8.2 percent increase from 748,000 domestic travelers in May 2017.

International travel to San Antonio International Airport rose 8.6 percent from about 28,000 in May 2017 to nearly 30,000 last month.

But “current macro-level economic and political un-

certainties continue to suppress demand between Mexico” and the San Antonio airport, although the airport has seen passenger gains from Mexico and Canada because of new routes, Brian Pratte, the city’s air service administrator, told Handy in an April report.

Overall, traffic to San Antonio International Airport is up more than 10 percent so far this year. About 3.9 million travelers hopped on or off plans at the airport between Jan. 1 and May 31 compared with 3.5 million during the same time frame last year.

Air carriers have been adding new service to San Antonio International Airport at a quick pace.

Earlier this month, low-cost carrier Frontier Airlines announced the addition of two nonstop routes from San Antonio to John Wayne Airport in Orange County, California, and Salt Lake City International Airport that will launch in August.

The two new Frontier routes bring the total number of nonstop routes out of San Antonio International Airport to 54, according to airport figures. Twenty-five of those flights are operated by Frontier.