

In 1986 a new 221-foot (67 m) FAA Air Traffic Control Tower was built at a new location. Once the new terminal was completed in 1984 it brought the airport's capacity up from eight gates to 27 gates. In 1975 the city adopted its first Airport Master Plan with plans for a new 1,300 space parking garage and a new 360,000 sq ft (33,000 m 2) Terminal (formerly called Terminal 1, now called Terminal A). For HemisFair '68, a new satellite concourse was built, containing eight jet bridge gates and passenger waiting areas. Terminal 2 was built in 1951–53, along with the FAA control tower and a baggage claim area. One squadron (113th) flew antisubmarine patrols over the Gulf of Mexico.Īt the end of the war the airfield was no longer needed by the military and was turned over to the City of San Antonio for civil use.

The 77th Reconnaissance Group, equipped with various aircraft (P-39, P-40, A-20, B-25, O-47, O-52, and L-5) trained reconnaissance personnel who later served overseas. The airport opened in July 1942 as Alamo Field and was used by the United States Army Air Forces as a training base. San Antonio International Airport was founded in 1941 when the City of San Antonio purchased 1,200 acres (490 ha) of undeveloped land that was then north of the city limits (now part of the city's Uptown District) for a project to be called "San Antonio Municipal Airport." World War II wartime needs meant the unfinished airport was pressed into federal government service.
