Airport receiving $18M for new terminal
The Federal Aviation Administration is handing over $18 million for a new terminal at San Antonio International Airport — which will cost an estimated $1.4 billion.
The planned terminal, to be built adjacent to Terminal B, is slated to open in 2028. The facility will take up 832,500 square feet, which will eclipse the combined square footage of Terminals A and B — by more than 200,000 square feet.
“As we grow and expand our operations, these grants allow us to continue to modernize our airport and improve traveler experience,” Airport Director Jesus Saenz said in a news release.
The new terminal will be the costliest part of the airport’s 20year, $2.5 billion expansion effort.
The facility will include a 17gate concourse, a new customs
inspections area, overnight parking spaces for airplanes and a multistory “Ground Transportation
Center” for VIA Metropolitan Transit buses, hotel shuttles, taxis and ride-hailing vehicles.
It will operate eight security lines, with room to eventually increase the number to 12.
Officials also received $12 million in grant funds for electrical upgrades in Terminal A, which opened in 1984 and is known for having one of the narrowest concourses among major U.S. airports. Terminal A eventually will be demolished, at least partially, but no major work to tear it down will be completed there until after the new terminal opens.
The grants are funded through the $1.2 trillion federal infrastructure bill that President Joe Biden signed into law in late 2021.
City officials tried to land $50 million the first time they applied for funds under the law but walked away empty-handed.
But the airport received $20 million in infrastructure funds last year for a ground-load facility, which officials were excited to get despite the fact that it was less than the $50 million they were shooting for.
The ground-load facility is expected to help airport officials contend with increased air traffic while construction of a new terminal gets underway. Instead of using jetway connectors between gates and airplanes, passengers will walk across the tarmac to board their flights at the ground-load facility.
These facilities are most common in small airports, but they are beginning to turn up at larger facilities.
Construction on the $62 million project will be complete in 2025, with construction starting early this year.