AUSTIN | ABIA Updates

[GuruHopkins]

26 Gates on concourse B is a half build because you can put gates on both the north and southside of concourse B unlike Barbara Jordan terminal. Barbara Jordan terminal only has gates on the southside of the terminal because departure and arrivals are on the northside of the terminal. Therefore you can fit 26 gates on a half built concourse B. I'm assuming at full build concourse B will be able to have close to 50 gates. On the diagram that I have concourse B is only half built with 26 gates.

[LoneStarMike]

Originally Posted by GuruHopkins

I'm assuming at full build concourse B will be able to have close to 50 gates. On the diagram that I have concourse B is only half built with 26 gates.

I believe the ultimate layout of Concourse B is 40 gates - 22 gates on the west side of the tunnel and 18 gates on the east side. The blue and red gates in the diagram below would add up to initial 26 gates.

[ILUVSAT]

https://www.bizjournals.com/austin/n...greements.html

Well...that article's title and first paragraph state 32 new gates. However, the article also stated Concourse B will open with 26 gates. Not sure where the missing 6 gates are!?!

[The ATX]

Originally Posted by ILUVSAT

https://www.bizjournals.com/austin/n...greements.html

Well...that article's title and first paragraph state 32 new gates. However, the article also stated Concourse B will open with 26 gates. Not sure where the missing 6 gates are!?!

According to this 12/07 ABJ article a new concourse M will have six gates:

"Also on the books for 2026 is the closure of the South Terminal, which is needed for the airport to reconfigure its taxiways and build a new terminal. Work on Concourse M will also begin in 2026, which will be a 35,000-square-foot concourse with six gates that will be used for passengers during the overall expansion effort but will eventually transition to a full-time belly freight facility. Concourse M could be open to passengers by 2027."

https://www.bizjournals.com/austin/n...-makeover.html

[ILUVSAT]

Originally Posted by The ATX

According to this 12/07 ABJ article a new concourse M will have six gates:

"Also on the books for 2026 is the closure of the South Terminal, which is needed for the airport to reconfigure its taxiways and build a new terminal. Work on Concourse M will also begin in 2026, which will be a 35,000-square-foot concourse with six gates that will be used for passengers during the overall expansion effort but will eventually transition to a full-time belly freight facility. Concourse M could be open to passengers by 2027."

https://www.bizjournals.com/austin/n...-makeover.html

Yes, I see that. They updated the article since my OP.

As stated, Concourse M is going to be used temporarily for commercial passengers (then converted to a "belly freight" facility). So, there will be a reduction of 6 gates in the future.

I saw on Airliners.net that there is a press release from today out there (which I have not located) that states WN will have (wants) 18-24 gates. That they would "take as many as AUS will give them." Maybe there is a chance that Concourse B may actually open with 32 gates (with WN having 24 of those)?!?

[ILUVSAT]

^^^I think so. But, there are only 4 contact gates (not 6). And, again this is temporary as a passenger terminal.

It will be interesting to see if AUS goes ahead and builds out/provides another 6 gates to WN in Concourse B. A release stated they will have 18-24 gates.

So, in the conceptual rendering - Concourse A will have 34 gates, Concourse B will have (at least) 26. So, 60 gates. NICE!

Crazy to think that in 6ish years, AUS will almost double in size.

[gillynova]

So, will Allegiant and Frontier go to Concourse A in the meantime before going back to Concourse M or how will that happen?

[GoldenBoot]

Originally Posted by gillynova

So, will Allegiant and Frontier go to Concourse A in the meantime before going back to Concourse M or how will that happen?

Maybe. I thought I read that M would be used for charters, diversions, new airline entrants to AUS, etc. Yes, I could see ULCCs moving back in - but, it's temporary. I believe the plan for M will be to have it converted to belly-freight (as previously mentioned). It's also in the way of any future Concourse C (and beyond). So, again, whatever M becomes - it's going to have to move in the future.

[GoldenBoot]

So, for at least a little bit after opening, the airport will look like this:

Concourse A - 33 jet bridges and one bus gate (to Concourse M).
Concourse B - 26 jet bridges
Concourse M - 4 jet bridges and 2 hard stands

Total = 65 gates (63 with jet bridges).

It will be interesting so see how efficient baggage handling is with Concourse M - as it is not directly connected to the rest of the airport.

It will also be interesting to watch as WN's rep did say they'd like 20 gates - and when that might happen.

[gillynova]

Maybe Concourse M will have a bag gate as well. South Terminal currently has one

[GoldenBoot]

Originally Posted by gillynova

Maybe Concourse M will have a bag gate as well. South Terminal currently has one

Yes. But, there is no landslide access to Concourse M for passengers to be picked up (like the South Terminal). All passengers will be bused to Gate A13 (in Concourse A - which is still behind security). Dragging checked baggage all that way doesn't seem to be a positive boost to the passenger experience and a nightmare for connecting passengers. I'm curious as to how AUS will make this work.

[gillynova]

New Parking Garage update

[Mikey711MN]

Summary of Signatory Lease Commitments:

• WN = 18
• DL = 15
• AA = 9
• UA = 5
• AS = 1

Source: https://www.austintexas.gov/news/aus...ansion-program

Estimated Terminal Gate Space at Initial Build-Out:

• Concourse A = 36
• Concourse B = 26

Re: Concourse A. Let's assume West Gate Expansion adds what we'll call Gates 37-39, i.e., publicly advertised as a net increase of 3 gates. And we'll ignore Gate 13 since it functions solely as a hold room for busing to remote stands and/or Concourse M. Moreover, let's also assume that the tunnel interface will remove existing Gates 18-20 from service as somewhat indicated in the concept drawing.

Concourse A Gates: (using adaptation of current gate numbering visible using this tool: https://airportmaps.flyaustin.com/)

• 1-8: CUTE & International Ops
• 9-12: DL
• 14-17: DL (displaces WN)
• 21-24: DL (displaces WN)
• 25 & 27: DL (displaces UA)
• 26: DL (displaces AA)
• 28: AS (displaces AA)
• 29: CUTE Domestic Ops (displaces UA)
• 30: CUTE Domestic Ops (displaces AA)
• 31-39: AA

DL has been described as the "anchor tenant" to Concourse A, and their front-and-center positioning appears to fit their strategy to appeal to premium AUS O&D traffic.

AA will obviously anchor the Concourse A west gates. I don't think AA can take all 9 gates right after the West Gate Expansion opens while Concourse B is not yet built, but it seems reasonable that they'll effectively shift to the west and build back east. IMO, you could arrange Gates 28-30 to whomever you want, although I suspect that AS may want to be close to AA for their OneWorld alliance.

Concourse B Gates: (generally divided into 4 "east gates" & 22 "west gates")

• 4 East Gates = 1 UA + 3 CUTE Domestic Ops
• 22 West Gates = 4 UA + 18 WN

UA's commitment to 5 gates seems hard to distribute within the Concourse B layout at first, but I think the split across the tunnel interface presents an opportunity that I'll get to below.

Undoubtedly, being closer to landside facilities would be WN's preference, but as some of their other operations indicate, e.g., DEN's farthest Concourse C, east end of ORD Terminal 5, etc., they seem to prefer having as many gates as possible if presented an either-or choice. Moreover, UA appeals to many of the same types of traffic that DL does, so being located at the far west end of B doesn't seem likely. In this speculation mode, however, there is a universe where that happens and WN's gates are clustered more to the east.

Wildcard Consideration - Lounge Locations:
The identification of lounge locations several months ago created some interesting opportunities to accommodate gate locations, and some of them appear more obvious now. Using the map extracted from View from the Wing's comprehensive coverage...



Here are the lounge locations described by AUS staff and subsequent predictions:

1. West Gates Expansion Lounge Area: relocated Admiral's Club lounge (publicly confirmed by AA)
2. Area Above Concourse A Tunnel Portal: described as an airline space, this has a relocated DL SkyClub written all over it with potential Delta One access to Gates 16, 17, 21 & 22
3. Area Above Concourse B Tunnel Portal: also described as an airline space, I think this is tied to WN or UA gate location. As mentioned above, if UA "splits" their operation across the portal, I think UA wants to be here and offer a similar lounge-to-plane access to at least 2 gates (i.e., east and west of the portal). If WN abuts the portal, I think they put a flagship lounge here.
4. Area Above New BJT West Infill: described as a financial institution lease space, this could go to any one of Chase, Capital One, or AmEx in that order of likelihood. Chase's relationship with current nearby UA and WN gates seems to put them in the lead, but none of these three would surprise me.
5. Existing AA/UA/DL spaces: described to be "common use" spaces in the future, I think the space for the existing - and very small - AA and UA lounges gets rebuilt as one while the DL lounge gets refurbished as the other. If Chase gets Area 4, then converting the current DL SkyClub to an AmEx Centurion lounge makes a lot of sense to appeal to their international traveling card holders. Which leaves Capital One or a wildcard to get that combined UA/AA space.

I'm not sure why the upper floor area towards the east end was not identified as a potential lounge space, which currently seems very underutilized.

Some final thoughts as I've processed the announcement this week:

• If these locations are more right than wrong, DL has positioned themselves quite close to CUTE gates as a means for future flexible growth.
• If WN occupies the eastern gates of Concourse B, they're in the driver's seat for easiest operational expansion in the future. If WN is on the west end, the door is open for DL to build out the remainder of Concourse B in some long-term future phase (I posted about this similar structure to SLC earlier).
• Hard to see how Concourse M can work by busing people from Gate 13, which had otherwise been built to facilitate the remote stands on the east side of the ramp. Perhaps there's another closer shuttle option (e.g., south face of Concourse B tunnel interface building?) that could be developed?

[LoneStarMike]

Originally Posted by Mikey711MN

Hard to see how Concourse M can work by busing people from Gate 13, which had otherwise been built to facilitate the remote stands on the east side of the ramp. Perhaps there's another closer shuttle option (e.g., south face of Concourse B tunnel interface building?) that could be developed?

There was a post on Reddit about 6 months ago about Gate 13 and one of the commenters mentioned

It's [Gate 13] currently the only apron-level gate at Bergyberg, though there'll be an apron-level holdroom at the west end of the terminal to support the six temporary hardstands that are scheduled to begin construction next year as part of the Temporary Hold Room Facility project (the holdroom itself is part of the West Gate Expansion Project)

I believe his source was the July 2021 Airport Expansion and Development Plan update

If you go to page 16 of that development plan, there were two options at that time to gain three new contact gates with west concourse extension.

1. New 17,400 sq ft apron level holdroom - Walk out to aircraft operation from apron level.

2. New 20,200 sq fr concourse level holdroom - full concourse extension with jetways.

Obviously the airport chose the full concourse extension with jetways. Initially I thought maybe they'd still have an apron level hold room beneath the concourse level, but looking at the layout of the West end gates I don't think bussing passengers from there to Concourse M would be possible. People would have to be walking between two planes to get to a bus, plus you'd have baggage carts, and other ground equipment. Doesn't seem like that would be safe.

Page 14 & 15 of that development plan have more info on Gate 13 and the hardstand operation on the east apron.

[Mikey711MN]

Originally Posted by LoneStarMike

There was a post on Reddit about 6 months ago about Gate 13 and one of the commenters mentioned



I believe his source was the July 2021 Airport Expansion and Development Plan update

If you go to page 16 of that development plan, there were two options at that time to gain three new contact gates with west concourse extension.

1. New 17,400 sq ft apron level holdroom - Walk out to aircraft operation from apron level.

2. New 20,200 sq fr concourse level holdroom - full concourse extension with jetways.

Obviously the airport chose the full concourse extension with jetways. Initially I thought maybe they'd still have an apron level hold room beneath the concourse level, but looking at the layout of the West end gates I don't think bussing passengers from there to Concourse M would be possible. People would have to be walking between two planes to get to a bus, plus you'd have baggage carts, and other ground equipment. Doesn't seem like that would be safe.

Page 14 & 15 of that development plan have more info on Gate 13 and the hardstand operation on the east apron.

Agreed on your assessment of the practical limitations of the hold room on the west end now.

My comments were largely based on how constrained Gate 13 is and just how much room could be needed to service upwards of 11 (!) parking positions: 5 on the east apron plus 6 in Concourse M.

Ultimately, while my math may be slightly off, the challenge remains ahead of the airport planners: there is a future net decrease in gates coming since the West Gate Expansion doesn't fully offset the losses from both South Terminal (3 gates) and some permanent elimination of centrally-located gates from BJT for the tunnel portal.

If I'm an airline, I suppose I'd prefer the Gate 13 holding area - for passenger access to various amenities - rather than Concourse M, no?

[GuruHopkins]

The MX is the maintenance pad which is where concourse M will be. The MX/Concourse M will still be used for maintenance and parking. This is where the planes go when they have MLEs or something is wrong with them. There is no other place to take the aircrafts and work on them.

The five hardstand positioned at the east apron are not hard stands. Those are parking spots that are used only at night because it covers up the second jay line which is needed during the day when operations is at its peak. Also what's not shown in the diagram is that, that location is also where most of the third party venders such as swissports, Gat, and wws keep their equipment stored.

The hard stands will be at the MX/Concourse M. The hardstands will be used summer/spring 2026 by Allegiant and Frontier. The South terminal will close by the end of this summer.

I highly doubt that there will be any bag handling/system at Concourse M. I think that the bags will go directly from the plane to BJT bag drop via bag carts to the corresponding airline bag belt in BJT. However I can see a scenario where bags are drop at Concourse M and then you are bused to BJT after you have received your bag.

The gate where the passengers that use Concourse M will be bused to is not a regular gate. Passengers will get off the bus walk through some doors and ride up escalators to BJT. I have taken pictures but I don't know how to upload them.

[ILUVSAT]

Originally Posted by Mikey711MN

Estimated Terminal Gate Space at Initial Build-Out:

• Concourse A = 36
• Concourse B = 26

Re: Concourse A. Let's assume West Gate Expansion adds what we'll call Gates 37-39, i.e., publicly advertised as a net increase of 3 gates. And we'll ignore Gate 13 since it functions solely as a hold room for busing to remote stands and/or Concourse M. Moreover, let's also assume that the tunnel interface will remove existing Gates 18-20 from service as somewhat indicated in the concept drawing.

Concourse A has 34 gates today (including, let's call it, A13). The west expansion is adding 3 contact gates. Yes, this WILL offset the loss of 3 contact gates at the tunnel interface (it's not an assumption). Once things are up-and-running, Concourse A will have 33 contact gates and gate A13 (technically, a total of 34).

I believe these gates will be given new names...A1-A34...when the dust settles.

[Mikey711MN]

Originally Posted by ILUVSAT

Concourse A has 34 gates today (including, let's call it, A13). The west expansion is adding 3 contact gates. Yes, this WILL offset the loss of 3 contact gates at the tunnel interface (it's not an assumption). Once things are up-and-running, Concourse A will have 33 contact gates and gate A13 (technically, a total of 34).

I believe these gates will be given new names...A1-A34...when the dust settles.

You're right. My math was wrong - and ultimately was confusing to me as I was contemplating those gates between AA and WN. Thanks for the correction.

On the topic of gate nomenclature, I think I prefer Dulles' approach to splitting physical buildings into two separately named concourses. Just number up from 1 from the middle and work your way out. But I agree that it'll probably just change to A1-A34, B1-B26, and so on.

[gillynova]

Taken before New Years. Forgot to post

[Croon]

Looking forward to expansion, though I may be relocating before its done. Hopefully after new arrival/departure hall and Concourse B completion, we get better at moving future projects quicker through the pipeline.