German leisure airline Condor and the San Antonio International Airport announced today that the airline will be launching 3x weekly flights between Frankfurt and the Texas city beginning May 17th, 2024.
This is a major win for San Antonio as the airport has been trying to lure transatlantic service for years. In August, the San Antonio Express News reported that local business leaders had raised over $2 million in funds to be used to subsidize new, nonstop routes from the airport with Frankfurt and London as some of their top targets.
Condor will be operating the flights with their new Airbus A330-900neo which represents a great product for passengers. The airline will be operating with the following schedule on Monday, Wednesday, and Friday:
Frankfurt (FRA) – San Antonio (SAT)
DE 2136 Departs: 3:40p Arrives: 8:50p Frequency: Monday
DE 2136 Departs: 2:00p Arrives: 6:25p Frequency: Wednesday/Friday
San Antonio (SAT) – Frankfurt (FRA)
DE 2137 Departs: 10:05p Arrives: 3:20p (+1) Frequency: Monday
DE 2137 Departs 8:25p Arrives: 1:40p (+1) Frequency: Wednesday/Friday
The flights are currently available for booking on the Condor website and presumably will be loaded into Google Flights soon. Fares start at $980 roundtrip in Economy and $2930 in Business Class.
This launch of service marks the first transatlantic flight from San Antonio, which has lagged behind nearby Austin-Bergstrom International Airport in attracting service in recent years. Austin first gained transatlantic flights with the arrival of British Airways in 2014. The airport currently offers direct flights to London, Frankfurt, and Amsterdam with British Airways, Virgin Atlantic, Lufthansa, and KLM.
Austin is currently in the process of expanding the terminal and discussions around a new midfield concourse is ongoing, though the airport is nearing capacity. This could this mean additional service to San Antonio down the road as airlines want to expand in the area.
As someone who is Austin based I always enjoy seeing nearby airports getting new service. Condor has a fantastic new business class product that puts most of Lufthansa’s hard product to shame, though the Austin route is operated by the 787-9 with updated interiors. Only time will tell how well this flight does with locals as there is very little feed at SAT. It’s also safe to say that the route is being heavily subsidized and Condor will have to re-evaluate the service once those funds run out.
Summary
It’s always exciting to see new transatlantic service in Central Texas and Condor will offer another option for residents in the area to get to/from Europe. Only time will tell if they are able to stimulate enough demand once the subsidies go away to see this route operate long term. Nearby Austin has seen massive growth in transatlantic flying over the past decade so hopefully this route will as well.
