Government completed flights from South Africa to Washington

SAN ANTONIO — It has taken more than a decade of lobbying from an impressive list of business and political leaders from San Antonio and Texas, but the U.S. Department of Transportation has finally officially approved a waiver allowing nonstop flights between San Antonio International Airport and Reagan Washington National Airport allows in DC

“We finally landed the plane,” Jesus Saenz, airport director for the San Antonio Airport System, said in an interview with KSAT. “We are very pleased with the partnership we have formed with American Airlines.”

It’s a historic victory that could have a significant economic impact on the San Antonio region.

“The importance of this matter,” said Mayor Ron Nirenberg, “cannot be overstated in terms of the business and national security implications.”

Congress passed a Federal Aviation Administration Reauthorization Act in May that provided a waiver for perimeter rules at DCA and allowed five new nonstop routes to and from the airport. In October, the DOT tentatively awarded one of the slots to American Airlines, which plans to launch the first nonstop service between San Antonio International and D.C. Airport.

The DOT has also approved Alaskan Airlines, Delta Air Lines, Southwest Airlines and United Airlines for nonstop flights between DCA and San Diego, Seattle, Las Vegas and San Francisco.

Airlines have 10 business days to submit their proposed schedules to the ministry and have until March 17 to begin service to approved destinations.

“American is thrilled to begin nonstop service from our nation’s capital to San Antonio,” said Nate Gatten, executive vice president of American Airlines. “I want to thank Senator Ted Cruz, the city of San Antonio and the countless elected officials who have worked to connect the fastest-growing city in the United States to Washington, DC.”

Cruz, ranking member of the Senate Committee on Commerce, Science and Transportation and a major player in D.C. politics, said the DOT decision is “a culmination of years of effort to connect our nation’s capital with the fastest-growing city in the United States. “Country.”

While exact details for the flight are still pending, Saenz confirmed to KSAT that the flight between SAT and DCA will operate daily, arriving and departing from San Antonio to Washington, DC

“We know how important this is to our military and that we can then come in and, you know, do business or trade while we’re working hard between San Antonio and Washington, D.C. on a number of different initiatives, whether it’s recreational or in the recreational area for military efforts,” Saenz told KSAT.

Saenz told KSAT that the San Antonio airport will now offer 46 nonstop flights.

According to Saenz, the exact details of the flight route, dates and other information are expected to be announced this week or early next week.

Read more about this story in the San Antonio Business Journal website.

Editor’s note: This story was published via a partnership between KSAT and the San Antonio Business Journal.