An all-time passenger record was broken Monday at the San Antonio International Airport (SAT).
More than 41,000 people packed their bags and flew in or out of the airport on July 31, according to preliminary throughput data from the Transportation Safety Administration, which screened 2.6 million passengers nationwide that day.
SAT’s previous record was set on March 8, 2019, with almost 38,000 passengers processed through security checkpoints.
More people flew through SAT in 2019 than any prior year, a bubble that burst in 2020 when the COVID pandemic halted nearly all air travel worldwide.
During that time, the slowest day was recorded on April 11, 2020, when only 1,038 people arrived or departed from the San Antonio airport.
The recent record-busiest day follows a busiest-ever month, when almost 950,000 travelers departed or arrived at SAT in June.
Jesus Saenz, director of airports, San Antonio Airport System, said he is elated to see the numbers.
“We’re having the best and busiest summer ever at SAT,” stated Saenz. “We are seeing significant numbers of travelers. This trend is a sign of our continued growth.”
About 34,000 passengers flew through SAT during June and July, up from about 30,000 a day in 2022.
The growth has led to “astounding” air service in July, stated Brian Pratte, chief air service development officer.
“We are seeing double-digit growth in capacity (seats) to Mexico and numerous cities across the U.S. compared to July 2019 — which was a record-breaking year for us,” Pratte said. “This is encouraging news for our economy and shows the impact of our targeted efforts at SAT — to expand air service options for our customers both locally and globally.”
Airlines have increased air service to and from SAT to places like Monterrey, Mexico, Miami, Newark, San Francisco and 12 other cities and regions.
Travelers also are flying more frequently to new places served through SAT, Pratte said.
“We also have growth worth noting to new markets that weren’t served in July 2019, Pratte added, including Boston, Leon/Guanajuato, Mexico, Oklahoma City and Albuquerque.
In June, Southwest Airlines resumed its daily, nonstop service to Kansas City. The airline also increased its nonstop flights to Baltimore-Washington International Airport to three times a day, Mondays through Fridays.
Airport officials said air service to several cities will expand in October.
Southwest plans to increase nonstop flights from SAT to San Diego to twice daily.
American Airlines also will increase nonstop flights from San Antonio to Dallas-Fort Worth to 13 times a day.
Monday’s record-breaker wasn’t the first time SAT has announced unbeaten numbers in the past year.
The recent Fourth of July was the busiest ever for that popular travel weekend, with 162,540 total passengers.
November 2022 marked the busiest Thanksgiving travel period at SAT with over 150,000 passengers, and September 2022 had the busiest Labor Day weekend travel period with almost 145,000 people.
Airport officials also have announced major grants from the Federal Aviation Administration in recent months that will go toward far-reaching expansion and improvement plans, including a new ground load facility and terminal.
