Happy 70th Aviation Anniversary San Antonio International!

Categories: Industry News | News

San Antonio International Airport celebrated a big milestone last month, which marked the 70th anniversary of the airfield there.

We put San Antonio’s aviation history in the spotlight with this week’s vintage “name that airport” photo. Now, scroll down for some more photos – and some background information – that highlight the development of the airfield that would become today’s San Antonio International Airport.

Here is some brief history on the airport:

In 1941, the City of San Antonio purchased 1,200 acres of land for the purposes of building an airport.

However, with the start of World War II, the Army took over the airfield and in July 1942 the airport was opened as Alamo Field and was used by the United States Army Air Forces as a training base throughout the war.

At the end of World War II, the city took control of the airfield once again and began developing San Antonio Municipal Airport. In 1951 the city began construction of the terminal facilities (the old Terminal 2), the FAA tower and a baggage handling system. Two years later the project was complete and the airport opened for commercial service in 1953.

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