S.A. airport sets new holiday weekend travel record
The San Antonio International Airport had a record-breaking Memorial Day weekend with an 11 percent increase in travelers compared to 2019.
Nearly 169,000 people flew in and out of the airport between Thursday, May 25, and Memorial Day compared to the more than 151,600 people who flew out in 2019.
Airport officials estimate the number of incoming and outgoing passengers by doubling the number of people who pass through Transportation Security Administration checkpoints at the airport.
Memorial Day weekend travel plummeted to about 21,600 people in 2020 due to the pandemic but has slowly increased each year, surpassing 131,000 in 2021 and 145,000 last year.
Managing the increase took planning. Ahead of the holiday, Deputy Director of Aviation Tom Bartlett said there were overflow parking spots at the ready, concessions were asked to staff up, and there weren’t any planned construction projects that would disrupt roadway traffic in the coming days.
The holiday marks the beginning of summer travel, and Bartlett said officials expect more activity at the airport through the coming months until students return to school in the fall.
Though the holiday set records, the airport didn’t quite meet its projected travel figures. Ahead of Memorial Day weekend, officials said they expected to see 187,000 people travel through the airport.
The San Antonio airport broke Thanksgiving travel records in November and thought it would break more in December, but winter holiday travel didn’t quite meet expectations because of December’s arctic blast and Southwest Airlines’ subsequent meltdown.