SAN ANTONIO — After years of planning – and amid an ongoing legal battle about which airlines will get to use it – construction will start Dec. 10 on a new $1.4 billion terminal that will essentially double the size of San Antonio's main airport.
Terminal C is the central component of a $2 billion to prepare San Antonio International (SAT) for future growth. The airport is already experiencing that this year, and you might have noticed if you've had to wait at long TSA lines; the airport continues to service historic numbers of travelers, with aviation officials saying the first 10 months of 2024 have each set monthly records for travelers passing through the facility, peaking with 1,032,610 in July.
Public discussions on the incoming terminal go back to 2018, when the city was considering growing the current facility at Highway 281 and Loop 410 or moving to another location altogether. They decided on the cheaper option of staying and building out its footprint.
Aviation officials have said construction of Terminal C – which will add about 832,000 square feet of space to SAT, more than the existing Terminals A and B combined – is expected to create about 6,000 jobs. Conceptual renderings released in February 2023 teased an outdoor courtyard area for flyers to use once they pass through security, as well as increased space in club lounges and hold rooms.
The hope is that it will be open sometime in 2028, along with a new ground transportation center and parking garage.
Meanwhile, Southwest Airlines in September sued the City of San Antonio, accusing the city and its aviation head of discrimination against the company when assigning Terminal C's gates.
Southwest, which says it carries more travelers than any other U.S. airline, has said San Antonio aviation officials repeatedly promised the airline that all or most of its 10 gates at SAT would move to Terminal C. Instead, the airline claims, the city was accused of an "unlawful bait and switch" when it said Southwest would remain in Terminal A—putting Southwest's future there up in the air.
The city released the following statement in response to the lawsuit:
"As the fastest growing city in America, we remain committed to doing what is best for San Antonio International Airport and the millions of passengers that use it each year.
The airline agreement is the foundation of our Terminal Development Program, and Southwest’s actions could have the effect of halting our progress and keeping the airport the way it is.
We have signed agreements and/or letters of commitment from eight other airlines representing 65 percent of SAT’s passengers.
SAT has added six new nonstops this year and set records for passenger growth for 16 months straight."
A hearing on preliminary injunction was scheduled for mid-December but has been delayed.
