AUSTIN | ABIA Updates

[ILUVSAT]

Originally Posted by Mikey711MN

As first reported by Ishrion Aviation here

1x 737 swapped for 2x E190 service starting 6/26/25

Scan down a bit on that posted link and you get: https://www.threads.net/@eliud_photo...st/DFBSUC0Pn7q

Was that Air France flight diverted to Austin?

[GoldenBoot]

Current Top 10 International Markets w/o Nonstop Service out of ABIA:

1) Paris
2) Liberia, CR
3) Rome
4) Seoul
5) San Jose, CR
6) Dublin
7) São Paulo
8) Barcelona
9) Madrid
10) Tokyo

Sorce: https://services.austintexas.gov/edi....cfm?id=443432

[GoldenBoot]

Interesting data find…

According to the analytics firm Cirium, the following are the world’s most connected airports in 2024 (ranked by number of nonstop destinations):

1) Istanbul (IST) 309
2) Frankfurt (FRA) 296
3) Paris (CDG) 282
4) Amsterdam (AMS) 270
4) Chicago (ORD) 270
5) Dubai (DXB) 269
6) Dallas-FW (DFW) 261
7) Shanghai (PVG) 243
8) Atlanta (ATL) 237
9) Rome (FCO) 234
10) Denver (DEN) 229
11) London (LHR) 221
12) Jeddah (JED) 219
13) Madrid (MAD) 218
13) London (LGW) 218
14) Munich (MUC) 217
15) Barcelona (BCN) 209
16) Beijing (PEK) 206
17) Chengdu (TFU) 202
17) Guangzhou (CAN) 202


Noteworthy – there are only four North American airports listed in the Top 20.

For comparison, AUS has 88 destinations currently scheduled in 2025. Some are seasonal and the list is subject to change during the year (with possible subtractions and additions).

[ahealy]

Originally Posted by GoldenBoot

Current Top 10 International Markets w/o Nonstop Service out of ABIA:

1) Paris
2) Liberia, CR
3) Rome
4) Seoul
5) San Jose, CR
6) Dublin
7) São Paulo
8) Barcelona
9) Madrid
10) Tokyo

Sorce: https://services.austintexas.gov/edi....cfm?id=443432

I do think Rome would be a verrrry popular choice for this market

[Airwave Dynamics]

Austin to Asia? Talks to bring nonstop flights to AUS ‘incredibly productive’
by: Christopher Adams - KXAN
Posted: Jan 24, 2025 / 07:00 AM CST
Updated: Jan 24, 2025 / 04:35 PM CST
https://www.kxan.com/news/local/aust...ly-productive/

[Jdawgboy]

Weren't we supposed to get a direct to Paris before the Pandemic? I'm suprised that has not happened recently unless gate space is the issue now.

[freerover]

Originally Posted by Jdawgboy

Weren't we supposed to get a direct to Paris before the Pandemic? I'm suprised that has not happened recently unless gate space is the issue now.

Yep and then the airline went bankrupt IIRC. Norwegian Recovered but the flight did not.

[GoldenBoot]

Originally Posted by freerover

Yep and then the airline went bankrupt IIRC. Norwegian Recovered but the flight did not.

Norwegian bowed out due to bankruptcy. Also, in their reorganizing, they made the decision to focus solely on short and medium-haul routes (mainly within Europe). They no longer fly long-haul.

I would imagine that either Air France or Delta will take up the Paris route in the coming years. The current problem is gate availability and FIS capacity. To maximize connectivity, flights to Europe typically leave within the same few hours of the day - potentially bottlenecking gates and FIS processing.

Rome's ranking surprised me.

[freerover]

Originally Posted by GoldenBoot

Norwegian bowed out due to bankruptcy. Also, in their reorganizing, they made the decision to focus solely on short and medium-haul routes (mainly within Europe). They no longer fly long-haul.

I would imagine that either Air France or Delta will take up the Paris route in the coming years. The current problem is gate availability and FIS capacity. To maximize connectivity, flights to Europe typically leave within the same few hours of the day - potentially bottlenecking gates and FIS processing.

Rome's ranking surprised me.

I'm not sure we have an international gate shortage. If we did then why would be soliciting Asia? The new gates coming online in a year are only going to replace the ones closing down permanently for the portal down to the tunnel. There are no net new gates coming online for 4-5 years.

Ticketing space though.... that's a real problem right now but it should get a lot better after the new Atrium infil. Security capacity will also get a lot better in a year once the west infil finishes.

[GoldenBoot]

Originally Posted by freerover

I'm not sure we have an international gate shortage. If we did then why would be soliciting Asia? The new gates coming online in a year are only going to replace the ones closing down permanently for the portal down to the tunnel. There are no net new gates coming online for 4-5 years.

Ticketing space though.... that's a real problem right now but it should get a lot bette
r after the new Atrium infil. Security capacity will also get a lot better in a year once the west infil finishes.

One always cultivates relationships with those they want close later. That is...AUS must sell their future capacity to airlines now in order to secure flights later.

AUS, currently, can only facilitate roughly 1000 passengers per hour through their FIS. If AUS had four inbound TATL flights arriving at the same time, they would easily exceed that max. Also, I'm not positive that AUS is capable of accommodating 4 wide bodies at the same time with their current
jetway configuration - regardless of the six "international" gates they currenty operate.

AUS is taking measures to expand FIS capacity. And, once the new concourse is complete, that will free up gate capacity in the "international arrivals" wing of the BJT. However, more space will be required should AUS aspire to reach more parts of the world - nonstop.

[freerover]

They’re not only trying to get more international flights 6 years from now nor will it take 6 years for an Aus to Asia flight. Sure, they can’t handle all international flights at once but there are a lot of hours in the day.

[futuresooner]

The thing is that space would probably be an issue if a flight to east Asia was actually a mid/late afternoon flight. The central time zone airports with flights to Seoul, for example, all leave either DFW, ORD, or MSP roughly in the late morning between 10am & noon. That said, the only non-morning arrivals to those airports are American to DFW & Delta to MSP. Korean to DFW & ORD are arriving to both in the 8-9am block as of recent.

[GoldenBoot]

Originally Posted by freerover

...but there are a lot of hours in the day.

I understand what you are trying to get at - however, it is not that simple.

[ILUVSAT]

21.76 million PAX in 2024.

[Lobotomizer]

Originally Posted by ILUVSAT

21.76 million PAX in 2024.

Is that the most ever?

[Green Country]

Originally Posted by Lobotomizer

Is that the most ever?

22,095,876 in 2023

[Riverranchdrone]

Yeah Green is right. 2023 was the most ever. The slight decrease was expected though.

[urbancore]

Originally Posted by Riverranchdrone

Yeah Green is right. 2023 was the most ever. The slight decrease was expected though.

curious, why was the decrease expected?

[GoldenBoot]

Originally Posted by urbancore

curious, why was the decrease expected?

This has been talked about all year. Namely due to AA's big pull back and a few other routes being cancelled (like the Virgin Atlantic to LHR).

[freerover]

City staff is worried about airport expansion with the recent federal funding freezes. It wouldn't be shocking to see the new concourse and new ticketing building timeline impacted.

"Our airport is expected to spend about $900 million on major capital improvements over the next
two years, including critical expansion projects. Of that, we are expecting roughly a third, or $300
million, in grant funding that is now potentially jeopardized."