Airport sets new high for travelers
Total during Thanksgiving season 4% above previous record set in pre-pandemic 2019
After a two-year pandemic-induced slump, San Antonio International Airport had a recordbreaking Thanksgiving travel season.
The airport had approximately 347,110 travelers from the Friday preceding Thanksgiving through the Monday after the holiday. That is a nearly 4 percent increase over 2019.
“Super excited about that,” Airport Director Jesus Saenz said. “It further supports that people are continuing to want to utilize the airport, but above that, wanting to travel.”
In 2019, the last year before the pandemic and the airport’s most recent record-setter, there were about 334,674 travelers.
In 2020, passenger totals plummeted to 133,418 during the same period. Last year, the numbers started to creep back up but didn’t quite reach 2019 status; there were about 317,104 passengers.
Airport officials estimate the number of incoming and outgoing passengers by doubling the number of people who pass through Transportation Security Administration checkpoints because it tracks only the number of outbound travelers.
Managing the increase took planning, especially on the parking side of the equation.
Ahead of the holiday, the airport set aside 1,000 overflow spaces across two surface lots, knowing they likely would be needed because the airport’s parking garages were filled to capacity several times this year before the Thanksgiving traffic boost.
Saenz said the increased demand for parking is a sign that people are coming from farther away to use the airport.
At the peak of the busy week, Saenz said the airport had about 100 parking spots available for travelers. When asked if he was concerned about what this could mean for next year if the airport sees more growth, Saenz said he was confident that the airport “will be prepared to meet those challenges.”
Saenz said additional parking is in the works as officials gear up to build a third terminal as part of a $2.5 billion, 20-year master plan to improve the airport.
So far this fiscal year, there has been a 7 percent increase in passengers out of the airport, compared with 2019 stats, City Manager Erik Walsh told City Council on Thursday. The national average, he added, is down about 6.5 percent.