A man looks up at the new 40,000-square-foot ground load facility from where passengers will board on the tarmac. San Antonio International Airport officials unveiled a 40,000-square-foot ground load facility Friday morning. It’s connected to Terminal A and requires passengers to board from the tarmac. Volaris will make the inaugural flight out of the facility the first week of April.
Megan Rodriguez/San Antonio Express-News
San Antonio airport and city officials mingle at a Friday press conference to unveil the new 40,000-square-foot ground load facility Friday morning. San Antonio International Airport officials unveiled a 40,000-square-foot ground load facility Friday morning. It’s connected to Terminal A and requires passengers to board from the tarmac. Volaris will make the inaugural flight out of the facility the first week of April.
Megan Rodriguez/San Antonio Express-News
San Antonio airport and city officials dine in an enclosed balcony overlooking the tarmac at the new 40,000-square-foot ground load facility. San Antonio International Airport officials unveiled a 40,000-square-foot ground load facility Friday morning. It’s connected to Terminal A and requires passengers to board from the tarmac. Volaris will make the inaugural flight out of the facility the first week of April.
Megan Rodriguez/San Antonio Express-News
San Antonio’s ground load facility includes a souvenir and snack shop on its first floor. San Antonio International Airport officials unveiled a 40,000-square-foot ground load facility Friday morning. It’s connected to Terminal A and requires passengers to board from the tarmac. Volaris will make the inaugural flight out of the facility the first week of April.
Megan Rodriguez/San Antonio Express-News
San Antonio’s new ground load facility includes more than 200 seats for travelers, including a handful overlooking the roadway facing the airport’s parking garages. San Antonio International Airport officials unveiled a 40,000-square-foot ground load facility Friday morning. It’s connected to Terminal A and requires passengers to board from the tarmac. Volaris will make the inaugural flight out of the facility the first week of April.
Megan Rodriguez/San Antonio Express-News
San Antonio International Airport’s new ground load facility adds up to five gates. It is attached to Terminal A. San Antonio International Airport officials unveiled a 40,000-square-foot ground load facility Friday morning. It’s connected to Terminal A and requires passengers to board from the tarmac. Volaris will make the inaugural flight out of the facility the first week of April.
Megan Rodriguez/San Antonio Express-News
San Antonio’s new ground load facility includes more than 200 seats for travelers, most of which are on the first of two stories and face the airport’s tarmac. San Antonio International Airport officials unveiled a 40,000-square-foot ground load facility Friday morning. It’s connected to Terminal A and requires passengers to board from the tarmac. Volaris will make the inaugural flight out of the facility the first week of April.
Megan Rodriguez/San Antonio Express-News
Travelers flying Volaris out of San Antonio International Airport will now walk across the tarmac to catch their flights.
Top city and airport officials unveiled a two-story, 40,000-square-foot ground load facility Friday, a project that’s been under construction since 2023.
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The facility, an expansion of Terminal A, features massive windows looking out to the tarmac, more than 200 seats with charging stations, a lactation room and a souvenir and snack shop.
The second floor includes a restaurant called Chef Johnny Mercado, which will combine dining options from several of local chef Johnny Hernandez’s restaurants. Patrons can dine in an enclosed balcony overlooking the tarmac.
Travelers will walk only a few yards on the tarmac, under a canopy.
Volaris, a low-cost Mexican carrier, will make the inaugural flight out of the facility in the first week of April. Other airlines will also use it on a rotating basis, Airport Director Jesus Saenz said.
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“Terminal A is just one step in the broader vision, one that will transform the face of our city and our region,” Saenz told more than 150 attendees at Friday’s event. “It represents a meaningful investment in our community, ensuring that the position of San Antonio for a strong and successful future.”
Saenz said ground load facilities allow airlines to board and unload passengers from two doors on their planes rather than one, cutting down on the time between flights.
“This is about efficiency, but more importantly it’s about capacity as we move forward,” Saenz said.
He was joined by City Manager Erik Walsh, City Council members and others as he cut a ceremonial ribbon of papel picado on stage in one of the facility’s holding areas Friday morning.
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A mariachi band serenaded visitors eating in the upstairs balcony and Jet, a new airport mascot, waddled through the crowd for photos. The mascot is a stubby blue and purple airplane with shoes shaped like wheels.
The additional space comes online ahead of the 2028 opening of Terminal C, which will be larger than the two existing terminals combined.
The ground load facility has three gates but can be expanded to five. There are 17 other gates in Terminal A and another eight in Terminal B. Two Terminal B gates were recently closed as construction crews work to connect the new terminal to it.
The $95 million facility was paid for with roughly $36 million in grants and $59 million in airport revenue, an airport spokeswoman said after the event. Its cost includes seven overnight parking spaces for planes, which will generate additional airport revenue.
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The cost ballooned from the original estimate of $62 million that Saenz talked about in 2023 when the project began. The facility is also opening later than officials originally said it would. After a construction contract with Colorado-based contractor Hensel Phelps was approved by City Council in 2023, officials estimated the facility would open at the end of 2024 or early 2025.
Saenz said that’s largely because there was more work than anticipated, including adding more overnight parking spaces.
“There was a little bit of delay here, but it’s not large,” Saenz said.
The ground load facility and Terminal C are meant to meet increased travel demand across the region.
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Between 2010 and 2020, the San Antonio metro area grew by more than 400,000 people, an increase of 16 percent. In 2022, about 9.5 million passengers traveled through San Antonio International Airport, and airport officials for years have said they could exceed 14 million by 2040.
San Antonio’s airport, like many around the country, has been experiencing a more than year-long travel slump. But passenger counts are expected to rebound and eventually increase again.
Air Service Administrator Jacob Tyler said in an end-of-year report that the airport saw about 10.7 million total passengers last year, a 3.2% drop compared with 2024. He attributed the slowdown to “economic uncertainty” and a lengthy government shutdown that dragged on for more than a month.
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Still, Tyler said Friday, 2025 was the airport’s second busiest on record.
“We want to make sure the facility fits the needs of the future,” he said.