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Alamo City airport traffic edge up but international travel takes a dive

INTERNATIONAL traffic at San Antonio's Airport plunged 21 per cent has dropped dramatically in the past year despite the Alamo City's attempt to use its location in South Texas to expand air service into Mexico and beyond.

In August, total air cargo increased 8.6 increased year on year to 20,822,194 pounds. CYTD total cargo increased versus the same period in 2015 to 1.5 million, or 11.5 per cent.

Aeromexico reduced flights from San Antonio International to Mexico City, while VivaAerobus ended service to Monterrey in the 12 months to August. And most dramatically, Southwest stopped flying from San Antonio to Mexico City, the Texas Public Radio reported.

The decline in international travel was offset some by more domestic flights. Allegiant and Frontier Airlines introduced new service from the Alamo City and Southwest added a second daily flight to Nashville. Overall passenger traffic at San Antonio International edged up 0.7 per cent during the year.

Both monthly and calendar year-to-date (CYTD) passenger traffic continued climbing through August 2016, representing increases of 1.5 per cent and 0.7 per cent respectively.

The San Antonio International Airport served 719,761 total passengers in August 2016, the second highest August on record, behind only 2008 before the economic downturn.

Statistics show that domestic traffic for the month was up 3.1 per cent compared to August 2015, buoyed by increases from Alaska Airlines, Allegiant Air and Frontier Airlines.

International traffic suffered a 21.4 per cent decline, attributed to the elimination of Southwest's Mexico City flights, which carried 6,700 passengers in August 2015. If not counted, the international traffic decline from last year would be 8.3 per cent.