San Antonio International reported a record month with 800,107 total passengers served in June 2016, a 3.1 percent increase as compared to June 2015. This represents the first time on record total passenger traffic has exceeded 800,000 in the month of June.
The increase can largely be driven by a solid increase in domestic traffic. Domestic traffic for the month was up 4.7 percent, while international traffic experienced a decline of 20.6 percent. While still a decline, the rate of decline in international passengers has decreased. In addition, if service that no longer exists is removed, such as Southwest to Mexico City or VivaAerobus to Monterrey, the actual decline in international traffic equates to 7.8 percent.
Calendar year-to-date (CYTD) traffic continued its growth, up 0.85 percent, representing a total of 4,201,063 total passengers. This also represents the largest CYTD traffic on record through June. In June, total air cargo had to be estimated due to an internal reporting issue with FedEx. Based on that estimate, air cargo increased 7.5 percent year-over-year to 19,827,367 pounds. CYTD total cargo softened slightly versus the same period in 2015 to 112,460,920 pounds, or (1.1 percent).
As part of our expanded efforts towards air service development, the San Antonio International Airport is also in the final stages of developing a cohesive air service marketing and advertising program. This program will broaden awareness of options, including carriers and destinations, throughout San Antonio and the surrounding region.
Domestic Passengers
Scheduled domestic capacity, or seats, increased in June 2016 year-over-year to 437,217 monthly departure seats, an increase of 5,241 seats, approximately 1.2 percent. This increase was largely driven by the launch of Frontier service to four destinations in addition to Allegiant service to three nonstop markets. On a monthly basis, airlines may make adjustments to the number of flights and seats available to match any seasonality or market demand trends. Total domestic passengers trended up 4.7 percent, exceeding the increase in capacity. The passenger traffic reported by the airlines tended to trend with the change in capacity.
International Passengers
Scheduled international capacity, or seats, decreased in June 2016 year-over-year to 24,583 monthly departure seats, a decrease of 7,768 seats, approximately (24.0 percent). This is in line with the decline in total international passengers, which decreased (20.6 percent). The passenger traffic reported by the airlines tended to trend with the change in capacity. In addition to capacity adjustments, the continuing devaluation of the Peso to the US Dollar may be contributing to decreased leisure travel between the two countries. In June 2016, the Peso had 14.5 percent less value than the same time in 2015, and 29 percent less value than two years prior to that.
