SAN ANTONIO – The city’s aviation department says it has added a new low-cost airline with nonstop services four times a week to its list of carriers at the San Antonio International Airport (SAT).
Breeze Airways celebrated its first departing flight from SAT to Oklahoma City, one of three new routes, on Thursday. The new airline will also be providing direct flights to Tulsa and northwest Arkansas.
Jesus Saenz, director of airports for the San Antonio Airport System, says the San Antonio airport is the first to add Breeze Airways to its list of airlines.
“San Antonio continues to be the number one leisure destination in the state of Texas, and we are excited about that, and we want to be able to bring more and more people to this beautiful city,” Saenz said.
Breeze Airways CFO Trent Porter says the company sees a lot of potential in San Antonio to execute its model and build on the number of direct flights.
“Over the next year, we’re going to be expanding our fleet significantly. So starting in the fall, we’re taking about one aircraft a month, and we’ll be expanding our network significantly,” said Porter.
The E-190 aircraft can seat 108 passengers. The first plane was welcomed by a water cannon salute and christened by champagne.
The new flight will be departing at 11:10 a.m. every Sunday, Monday, Thursday, and Friday.
Saenz says it’s an exciting addition considering the pandemic’s effect on travel early on.
“So we experienced some difficult and hard times and -- you know, in 2020. And we’re excited about what 2021 is bringing to us. More importantly, the opportunity for us to bring three new destinations,” said Saenz.
Breeze Airways is only the first of a few new airlines coming to SAT.
“We will be starting an inaugural flight with JetBlue, as well. And they will be flying to New York and to Boston. So we’re excited about those two, and we’ll be talking about those in the months to come,” said Saenz.