City officials announced Wednesday that the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) has awarded the San Antonio airport another $10 million for the new terminal now under construction.
That brings to $188 million in federal grant funds awarded for the $2.5 billion San Antonio International Airport terminal development project since 2022.
It’s also the last funding expected under the 2021 Bipartisan Infrastructure Law.
“We’ve been successful in four of the five years in drawing money down,” said Assistant City Manager Jeff Coyle. “It helps us build what we’re all dreaming and excited about out there.”
The most recent grant is the largest awarded to any medium-hub airport in the U.S., he said.
The last major FAA grant of $13.3 million was awarded in July. The city applied for a U.S. Department of Transportation grant in the amount of $25 million that has not yet been awarded.
Also on Wednesday, aviation officials also told City Council that they would be recommending a joint venture that includes Manhattan Construction and Joeris General Contractors for the estimated $260 million contract to improve Terminals A and B.
The Manhattan-Joeris bid beat out proposals submitted by Skanska USA and Austin Commercial.
Construction work will start in 2028 when Terminal C is completed.
Common use and concessions
Another high-profile contract solicitation, for the common use passenger processing system in Terminal A, will be released on May 29.
A common use passenger processing system allows several airlines to share check-in desks, bag drops, and gate podiums.
The five-year contract is valued at $12 million and proposals are due in July. Aviation officials will return to council in October or November for approval of the selected contractor.
In late June, another call for bids will go out for concessions in the new terminal.
The airport split the concessions solicitation into four contracts that includes two food and beverage, a retail and travel essentials contract and the duty-free shop, for a total of 12 concessions. It also reserved the right to award all the business to a single contractor or multiple contractors.
Coyle said that was the result of a previous solicitation experience in which two bids were received and one bid far outperformed the other.
“Because we had put a restriction on ourselves that no firm could get more than one [contract], we ended up taking another nine months to do another solicitation,” he said. “We don’t have that time flexibility at this point. These need to be open when the new terminal is open.”
While under the current administration the contract is not held to federally mandated disadvantaged business enterprise requirements, Director of Airports Jesus Saenz said the city was “steadfast committed” to local participation in contracts.
In the evaluation matrix, the highest number of points (25) among the six categories is given to the concepts and brands that are proposed and the merchandise mix, menus and pricing.
Councilwoman Sukh Kaur (D1) said she would like to see more local concepts in retail at the airport. In the existing terminals, 70% of the concessions have local participation.
In 2024, a contract with a joint venture between Maryland-based HMS Host and the locally-owned True Flavors was selected to provide concessions.
The most recent food and beverage concession to open at the airport is Pharm Table in Terminal A.
The Atlanta-based Paradies Lagardere is the primary retail concessionaire for SAT’s news, gift and specialty shops, such as Military City USA.
About half of the airport’s $170 million operating budget comes from non-aeronautical revenue like parking and concessions.
The new terminal concessions contract solicitation is expected to be released June 23 with bids due Sept. 23.
