San Antonio Airports New Nonstop Flight To Mexico Aims To Serve Business Travel

Mexico’s ultra-low-cost carrier Viva Aerobus said Thursday it plans to add a direct flight between the San Antonio International Airport (SAT) and Querétaro Intercontinental Airport (QRO). 

With the new air service, San Antonio’s airport now offers 43 direct flights, including, for the first time, a nonstop flight to Europe starting next year. 

The Querétaro flight will be offered year-round on Mondays and Fridays starting Dec. 1 with 240 seats available on an A321 aircraft. 

Tickets went on sale Thursday.

Viva Aerobus also plans to increase its existing service between San Antonio and Mexico City from six to seven days a week and will add a third weekly flight between SAT and Guanajuato International Airport (BJX).

Another new air service announcement with a destination to Mexico is expected next week, aviation officials said.

Previously, flights from San Antonio to Querétaro connected through Dallas or Houston.

A direct flight has been in the works for several years and a destination highly sought after by the city’s economic development leaders and Greater:SATX, said Assistant City Manager Jeff Coyle. 

In September, the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) returned Mexico’s aviation safety rating to the highest level after a downgrade over safety concerns in May 2021. 

The action allows Mexico to add new air service and routes to the U.S., and U.S. airlines can resume marketing and selling tickets with their names and designator codes on Mexican-operated flights.

Located in the Bajío region of Central Mexico, Querétaro is a major industrial and automotive manufacturing center with ties to suppliers in San Antonio. It is also one of SAT’s most underserved markets, said Jesus Saenz, director of airports for the City of San Antonio. 

“Querétaro is an important destination when it comes to both business and leisure travel,” Saenz said. “There is a high demand for people involved in the aerospace and automotive industries. It’s also a popular destination for many people in our community with friends and family there.”

Saenz pointed to Toyota and its suppliers and H-E-B as major local companies that have connections with Querétaro. San Antonio-based H-E-B has a growing presence in Mexico, with over 75 stores. On Tuesday, the grocer opened its fourth Querétaro store.

Saenz said the new flight makes SAT more competitive in the region. The air service agreement with Viva Aerobus includes fee waivers and marketing support in keeping with the airport’s incentive program. 

“It’s going to provide quick connectivity to people that are within that [150-200-mile] radius,” he said. “People will make decisions to fly out of San Antonio specifically because of the ability to have nonstop, direct service into that city, which will make it very attractive for people … to be able to come into San Antonio.”

Viva Aerobus has been providing air service at SAT for more than four years and added twice-weekly direct flights to Guanajuato in May 2021. 

Starting in March, the airline plans to add another weekly flight to Guanajuato and in December an additional flight to Mexico City (MEX). Viva Aerobus also offers direct flights between San Antonio and Monterrey. 

The airline’s announcement comes just two weeks after aviation officials announced its first nonstop flight to Europe with Condor Airline’s new air service to Frankfurt starting in May. 

The first scheduled flight to Frankfurt International Airport, with 308 seats, is already sold out, Saenz said.

“We’re really trying to hit all the markets that we need to hit with regards to adding additional nonstop service from San Antonio into specific key areas that we have strategically outlined, where we need to go make certain that we land these levels of service that we want to provide to our passengers,” Saenz said.

To accommodate the added air service, three new gates were added to the airport in late 2022 and early 2023. The groundbreaking ceremony for a new ground load facility at the airport will be announced in the coming weeks.

Meanwhile, Congress has extended for another three months a vote on the FAA’s Reauthorization bill. Local leaders are still hoping the long-awaited direct flight between SAT and the Ronald Reagan International Airport (DCA) will get pushed through.

Coyle said city leaders traveled to Washington, D.C., recently to meet with senators and the airlines, “who were all saying they thought it looked good … and San Antonio would be very, very competitive for one of those slots if they get approved.”

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