San Antonio airport bucks travel decline and adds new Toronto nonstop
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America's political climate is chilling international travel — but not at San Antonio International Airport, which announced Monday new nonstop service to Toronto.
Why it matters: Many U.S. cities are grappling with tourism declines that are straining their local economies. But San Antonio is drawing international visitors who can provide a crucial financial cushion — especially as the city's airport undergoes a major overhaul.
- The service to Canada once again expands SAT's international offerings beyond Mexico.
Driving the news: Air Canada will launch service to Toronto Pearson International Airport beginning May 1, the only nonstop option to Canada from SAT.
- The route will run three times per week, and will be timed so travelers can make connections to major international cities like London and Barcelona.
- "As our community grows, so does our demand for air travel," airport director Jesus Saenz said in a statement.
The big picture: Elsewhere, foreign travelers are skipping travel to the U.S. under the Trump administration. Some are saying they are put off by tariffs, anti-foreigner rhetoric and aggressive immigration enforcement, Axios' Emily Peck reports.
- Nationwide, international air travel is down 7% from 2024, an Axios analysis of U.S. Customs and Border Protection data found.
- Canadians in particular are steering clear. Visits from our northern neighbors are down 25% year to date, according to a forecast last month from travel research firm Tourism Economics.
The intrigue: Travel from Mexico to the U.S. is holding up.
What they're saying: Mexicans are more accustomed to having a fractious relationship with the U.S., Sonnet Frisbie, deputy head of political intelligence at Morning Consult, tells Axios.
- "I think they felt less betrayed" by rhetoric from the White House, says Frisbie, who is tracking this reputation data.
Flashback: Condor ended its brief run of a nonstop flight from SAT to Germany last year. It was the city's first European nonstop route.
Zoom in: In July, the most recent data available, the number of international passengers through SAT was down by 6.8% from last July. But the drop stems entirely from Condor's route cancelation — meaning those passengers dropped off because they didn't have a choice.
- If you remove Condor's passengers from the data, the number of international passengers actually increased 0.2%, air service administrator Jacob Tyler tells Axios.
- Viva's routes from SAT to Leon/Guanajuato and Monterrey both saw more traffic this July than last, per the airport's recent report.
- The year through July saw slightly more international passengers than the same time period in 2024, jumping from about 421,000 to nearly 425,000.
State of play: Overall, traffic at SAT is down this year compared to 2024. But it's still the second busiest July on record for the airport, the report says.
- Airport officials attribute the general decline to economic uncertainty among travelers.
What we're watching: How the local air traffic affects money spent at SAT — which goes right back into the ongoing multibillion-dollar renovation, which includes a new terminal.