DALLAS – American Airlines (AA) has formally submitted its application to the U.S. Department of Transportation (DOT) to start daily non-stop flights between San Antonio International Airport (SAT) and Washington Reagan International (DCA).

The city remains the largest in Texas and a major military hub without a non-stop connection to DCA. AA’s proposed flight numbers will be named after San Antonio’s foundation date, 1718, and the year the U.S. Air Force was established in 1947. Flights AA1718 and AA1947 will be operated daily by AA’s Airbus A321, taking off from SAT at 6:35 a.m. local time and landing in DCA at 10:59 a.m. local time.

The return flight is set to leave the state of Washington at 7:45 p.m. local time, landing in SAT at 10:20 p.m. However, AA is prepared to adjust its timings to streamline the new service into operations at DCA.

Comments from Officials

“American is proud to submit an application to provide the only nonstop service between San Antonio and Washington, D.C. This new service will expand American’s industry-leading domestic network connecting customers to the places they want to visit most,” said Brian Znotins, American’s Senior Vice President of Network and Schedule Planning.

“Adding a nonstop route to Reagan National Airport is part of our efforts to expand air operations for the San Antonio region,” said Jesus Saenz, Director of Airports for the San Antonio Airport System. “We’re grateful to American Airlines for their shared vision to improve connectivity and for helping us elevate our service options with a route that will be especially beneficial to our business and military communities. This is yet another step in our commitment to modernize our airport and improve the traveler experience.”

On May 17, Condor Airlines (DE) inaugurated its first-ever non-stop service from Frankfurt (FRA) to SAT. Operated by the Airbus A330-900neo, this flight marked the first non-stop connection to Europe, allowing passengers to connect to more than 100 destinations through the German hub. 

Airways was on board DE's inaugural transatlantic flight. Check out the experience at: