AUSTIN | ABIA Updates

[freerover]

Originally Posted by the Genral

So the tunnel connecting the new terminal is a dig and cap?

I don't think that has been confirmed by the port but a cut and cover seems like it makes the most sense and would make dealing with the water table a lot easier than a traditional tunnel. I think the question is if it would be an operational issue where planes would lose East/West access across the middle of taxiway C1 and C2 for a couple years during construction.

[LoneStarMike]

June sets a new record for passengers at ABIA

June 2026 Passenger, Cargo Traffic at Austin-Bergstrom International Airport

AUSTIN, TEXAS – June 2026 marked another milestone for Austin-Bergstrom International Airport (AUS) as the airport set a new record for its busiest month ever.

Total passenger traffic for June 2026 was 2,102,853, up 4.4% compared to June 2025.

Total passenger traffic for January – June 2026 was 10,801,439, up 4.58% compared to January – June 2025.

Total international passenger traffic for June 2026 was 127,852, up 2.17% compared to June 2025.

Tota linternational passenger traffic for January – June 2026 was 535,631, up 5.73% compared to January – June 2025.

[Austin-Bergstrom International Airport Aviation Activity Report Calendar Year 2026 vs 2025 Combined Terminals

[ILUVSAT]

UA is going to surpass AA quite soon as the airport's #3 airline in terms of total passengers. The gap between DL and AA has grown quite wide.

[clubtokyo]

Very nice numbers!

[resansom]

Can someone please give me the short answer why Austin Bergstrom shows up ast the 29th busiest airport in the United States with "only" 10,651,727 passengers in 2025? Why do the numbers they use differ so greatly with the numbers that we see here?

[DaHaTra]

Originally Posted by resansom

Can someone please give me the short answer why Austin Bergstrom shows up ast the 29th busiest airport in the United States with "only" 10,651,727 passengers in 2025? Why do the numbers they use differ so greatly with the numbers that we see here?

The second sentence on the Wikipedia page reads

“The FAA uses passenger boarding for a half calendar year to determine Airport Improvement Program (AIP) entitlements.”

So the numbers seem quite close. If anything I think the wiki numbers are a little nighter, since if you multiply Austin’s numbers by 1.0458 you get about 11.1 million and not the 10.8 million number above.

[resansom]

Originally Posted by DaHaTra

The second sentence on the Wikipedia page reads

“The FAA uses passenger boarding for a half calendar year to determine Airport Improvement Program (AIP) entitlements.”

So the numbers seem quite close. If anything I think the wiki numbers are a little nighter, since if you multiply Austin’s numbers by 1.0458 you get about 11.1 million and not the 10.8 million number above.

I read that and totally misunderstood its meaning. Thanks.

[LoneStarMike]

Originally Posted by resansom

Can someone please give me the short answer why Austin Bergstrom shows up ast the 29th busiest airport in the United States with "only" 10,651,727 passengers in 2025? Why do the numbers they use differ so greatly with the numbers that we see here?

Short answer:

They are most likely referring to enplanements i.e. departing passengers.
Total passengers include enplaned and deplaned (arriving) passengers.

Longer answer:

Airports use enplanements (the total number of people boarding a plane) rather than total travelers because it provides a reliable, standardized metric. It directly measures an airport's operational workload, determines federal funding, and tracks facility usage per flight rather than trying to count distinct human trips.

Why Enplanements Matter

Funding and Grants: Agencies like the Federal Aviation Administration use annual boarding data to calculate Airport Improvement Program funding and entitlements.Hub Classification: An airport's official size category (such as small, medium, or large hub) relies directly on its total enplanements.Financial Planning: Metrics like cost per enplaned passenger help airports and airlines analyze operating costs, terminal fees, and concession revenue.

Also, enplaned passengers are the ones who pay the Passenger facility charge which is $4.50 at AUS.

So if you fly roundtriip from Austin to Chicago, Austin gets the passenger facility charge when you enplane (board) at Austin. Coming back, Chicago gets the passenger facility charge when you enplane (board) at Chicago.

[resansom]

Originally Posted by LoneStarMike

Short answer:

They are most likely referring to enplanements i.e. departing passengers.
Total passengers include enplaned and deplaned (arriving) passengers.

Longer answer:

Airports use enplanements (the total number of people boarding a plane) rather than total travelers because it provides a reliable, standardized metric. It directly measures an airport's operational workload, determines federal funding, and tracks facility usage per flight rather than trying to count distinct human trips.

Why Enplanements Matter

Funding and Grants: Agencies like the Federal Aviation Administration use annual boarding data to calculate Airport Improvement Program funding and entitlements.Hub Classification: An airport's official size category (such as small, medium, or large hub) relies directly on its total enplanements.Financial Planning: Metrics like cost per enplaned passenger help airports and airlines analyze operating costs, terminal fees, and concession revenue.

Also, enplaned passengers are the ones who pay the Passenger facility charge which is $4.50 at AUS.

So if you fly roundtriip from Austin to Chicago, Austin gets the passenger facility charge when you enplane (board) at Austin. Coming back, Chicago gets the passenger facility charge when you enplane (board) at Chicago.

Thanks - when I saw Austin was closer to 30th it was disappointing, but it does make more sense after that explanation.

Not sure why it's disappointing but it was. Actually, I do know why: when I was a kid, growing up in ATX in the 1960s and 1970x, I always wanted everything to be bigger. I got my wish in more than many ways (not all of them for the better) but no longer live there so I only get to read about all of the growth in sites like this one. One of my favorite things to do these days is to be the first person to notice ATX in a new television commercial...

My mom worked as a personal assistant to the airport administrator for a time, so was interested in airports, in general, and always followed along with the developments of first Mueller and now Austin-Bergstrom.

My favorite memory of that time was getting a front row seat when the cast of the Batman movie landed at Mueller and disembarked their plane at one of its exterior arrival/departure gates in 1966 (sorry, it was Lee Meriwether as Cat Woman by that time - check this or this out).

I was thrilled when we finally got that concourse enclosed and got a few "jetway" gates.

[LoneStarMike]

Originally Posted by resansom

I was thrilled when we finally got that concourse enclosed and got a few "jetway" gates.

I was thrilled when Mueller finally got baggage carousels. I'm old enough to remember when baggage claim used that shelf system.

[Armybrat]

Originally Posted by LoneStarMike

I was thrilled when Mueller finally got baggage carousels. I'm old enough to remember when baggage claim used that shelf system.

Mueller terminal looked like this when we first landed here in January, 1959..

http://www.tapatalk.com/groups/vegasexpe...2014-1-year-afte-t15909-s10.html#p298118