San Antonio International Lands First Transatlantic Service

[fusion2]

Originally Posted by RadiantBaby

This right here. 100%.

SAT can offer as many incentives as they want, but once they run out, if the locals aren't taking the flights, the routes will evaporate.

Should be noted that there is a frequent service between YYZ and AUS along with a bunch to HOU and DAL. It is the Austin one however that I think would eat the lunch of SAT because it is so close.

[yadigggski]

Originally Posted by Remington Steel

It still baffles me that SA can "support" a huge Lamborghini & Porsche dealership....so there is hope. Maybe it has something to do with our close proximity to the Mexican states of Coahuila & Nuevo León which are known to have a lot of wealthy people.

I'm sure they help but I know (or know of) a bunch of people in SA that have supercars (Koenigsegg/Bugattis to Ferrari's/Lambos) and the vast majority of the ones I know aren't Mexican Nationals. Mark Motors has been around for a while and sometimes they'll get Aventador SVJs or Ferrari SF90s that are pushing a million. San Antonio has a surprisingly good scene when it comes to exotic/high end cars. Comparing it to Dallas/Houston is always gonna look bad because they're in a completely different ball game.

Even somewhere as big as MSP doesn't have a standalone Gucci store so compared to other metros in it's tier (STL/Orlando/Tampa/Pittsburgh, etc) I don't think SA is doing too bad.

From what I've read about the AC Toronto route is it was a mix of bad scheduling and marketing. Plus for people going overseas it's probably a lot easier to catch a layover in ATL/ORD/DFW/IAH than it is to pay for a pricey Air Canada ticket to Toronto.

[WVNomad]

Originally Posted by yadigggski

Didn't Delta just add a JFK flight? The JetBlue JFK route is pretty new too. Maybe a Gatwick flight on a different carrier could happen, idk. I think Austin had a direct there a while ago and lost it. If the numbers are there maybe a BA flight to LHR is feasible, but AUS being so close adds a level of complication most cities don't have. I do agree that whatever the airport/city shot callers were doing 15-20 years ago set the city back. They should have been putting this energy into the airport back when AT&T was still around.

I've always seen SA as a tale of 2 cities in a lot of ways. They're building a 40k sqft Lamborghini dealership out by Fair Oaks (which absolutely stomps the puny one in Austin), Porsche just built a massive dealership on I-10, LV and Gucci standalones at La Cantera are a couple years old at most, new developments with giant houses going up left and right on the N/NW side, etc. There's obviously a market here for higher end things despite how it looks on paper. Miami is poor on paper too but that doesn't tell the full picture.

Purely by visual observation (which, granted, is far from scientific), Miami and San Antonio are hardly alike.

[yadigggski]

Originally Posted by WVNomad

Purely by visual observation (which, granted, is far from scientific), Miami and San Antonio are hardly alike.

I only used the Miami comparison because it's tied with SA as the "poorest" big metro area in the US, but there's clearly heavy affluence there as well so those statistics don't tell the full picture.

[Azure110]

Originally Posted by yadigggski

I only used the Miami comparison because it's tied with SA as the "poorest" big metro area in the US, but there's clearly heavy affluence there as well so those statistics don't tell the full picture.

Miami has a NFL, NHL, MLB, and NBA team. San Antonio only has NBA. Of course statistics don't tell the full picture. Just like using the presence of Lamborghinis and Ferraris.

[ged_782]

Originally Posted by Azure110

Miami has a NFL, NHL, MLB, and NBA team. San Antonio only has NBA. Of course statistics don't tell the full picture. Just like using the presence of Lamborghinis and Ferraris.

Also, consider Miami is ranked the 9th largest Metropolitan Statistical Area in the U.S., whereas San Antonio is the 24th largest.

[rynetwo]

Originally Posted by RadiantBaby

Sure, it's something, but why wouldn't we want something better to begin with?

'Good enough' seems to be the San Antonio motto.

Regardless, it'll be interesting to see if this materializes, as May is a long way off and the industry remains soft.

In the meantime, SAT can keep working on getting the money they need to make this fantasy new airport appear. They're nowhere near the near $3 billion they need.

Actually they are well on the way and our city budget can support it. If the dumb administration spent money on infrastructure from the infrastructure bill we would be fine. The feds paid for almost all of the new MSY airport.

[rynetwo]

The airport is currently outpacing the 2019 numbers which were the highest. As the population and salaries expand so will air service.