AUSTIN | ABIA Updates

[gillynova]

Yeah, really wish a light rail was going to the airport... it's a pipe dream at this point

[SproutingTowers]

Read on the San Antonio page that five new roundtrip flights to Reagan National Airport (DCA) will soon be allowed, but the cities have not been chosen. The Senior Public Information Officer at the San Antonio International Airport claims SAT services a regional population of more than 5.2 million people in trying to attract the FAA to give them a route.

[GoldenBoot]

Originally Posted by SproutingTowers

Read on the San Antonio page that five new roundtrip flights to Reagan National Airport (DCA) will soon be allowed, but the cities have not been chosen. The Senior Public Information Officer at the San Antonio International Airport claims SAT services a regional population of more than 5.2 million people in trying to attract the FAA to give them a route.

HA!!! 5.2 million!?! It's as if AUS does not exist and travelers from Liberty Hill are utilizing SAT as their primary source for air travel. What a joke.

[texboy]

Originally Posted by GoldenBoot

HA!!! 5.2 million!?! It's as if AUS does not exist and travelers from Liberty Hill are utilizing SAT as their primary source for air travel. What a joke.

It’s interesting that you can read on this forum that ABIA can pull from the San Antonio statistical market and nobody blinks an eye, but when San Antonio uses that same market statistic area to talk about the area it can potentially pull from, it’s seen as a ‘joke’. But it is in fact true and there are statistics out there that back up the claim that SA does pull some passengers from the same market that Austin uses to talk about its potential pax.

[GoldenBoot]

Originally Posted by texboy

It’s interesting that you can read on this forum that ABIA can pull from the San Antonio statistical market and nobody blinks an eye, but when San Antonio uses that same market statistic area to talk about the area it can potentially pull from, it’s seen as a ‘joke’. But it is in fact true and there are statistics out there that back up the claim that SA does pull some passengers from the same market that Austin uses to talk about its potential pax.

Austin hasn't claimed a catchment area encompassing 5.2 million people. Also, the statement insinuates that SAT is the only choice for said individuals.

Catchment areas are often expressed as being within 60-to-90 minute drive from a specific point. In this case, an airport. Therefore, neither SAT nor AUS can claim a catchment area ("service region") of 5.2 million.

Additionally, just because someone chooses to fly out of a particular airport does not necessarily mean that the area around said individual is in that airport's catchment area. For example, say you live in SA and choose to drive 2.5/3 hours to IAH for an international flight. Because this occurred does not make SA apart of IAH's catchment area. Just as if someone in Jarrell decided to drive 2 hours to fly out of SAT for some reason. That does not make Jarrell apart of SAT's catchment area.


I believe AUS's catchment area consists of the five-county core metropolitan area plus the adjacent counties to those five. I cannot remember...it's something like 16-20 counties. For the most part, it stretches into the Hill Country, north toward Killeen/Temple, and east of the metro area. SAT and AUS share a few counties in-between the airports.

[wwmiv]

Delete.

[Tornado]

Whether it was appropriate or not, they used the number and it’s fine. It doesn’t affect anyone and airlines have all the hard numbers. Plenty of people to go around for both airports now and into the future.

I’ve flown out of Austin and enjoyed it minus the bathrooms (think I chose the one area of bathrooms that hadn’t been updated yet).

I love flying out of San Antonio as it’s easy to get to and is near the city center.the SA to DCA flight makes too much sense given all of the military and veteran presence here. Exited for the new terminal and airport transformation.

I hope Austin gets a Bahamas flight again. That was really nice to use

[ATX2030]

Originally Posted by wwmiv

Delete.

Crazy! Didn't realize DFW and IAH were in the AUS catchment area.

[gillynova]

Idk if this is off topic but how is San Antonio's airport? Are TSA lines usually long or fast? Is the airport modern/old? Are there renovations coming to it soon?

[The ATX]

Originally Posted by gillynova

Idk if this is off topic but how is San Antonio's airport? Are TSA lines usually long or fast? Is the airport modern/old? Are there renovations coming to it soon?

They have expansion plans. There is a sticky thread dedicated to their airport in the SA sub-forum.

[Bblasa]

I believe Austin’s expansion was the reason SA chose to move its expansion up a few years sooner

[FrankLloydLeft]

Originally Posted by Bblasa

I believe Austin’s expansion was the reason SA chose to move its expansion up a few years sooner

Thankfully this will further put off any attempts to do a joint airport for both cities that would drive even more sprawl between the two like the DFW metroplex. I know the sprawls happening but it's far less aggressive since we have a bit more distance between the two and more well established small towns that act on their own without the intent to be absorbed by either city.

Also San Antonio's direct flight to Frankfurt via Condor just launched.

[SproutingTowers]

25 years ago Austin moved its airport operations from Robert Mueller Municipal Airport to Bergstrom Air Force Base (renamed to Austin-Bergstrom International Airport - AUS) where it gained a 12,250 ft runway and larger footprint (now 4,242 acres). A second 9,000 ft runway was also rebuilt.

Kelly Air Force Base closed 2001 and had a 11,550 ft runway, but SA did not move airport operations there. The longest runway at SAT is 8,505 ft, 2,305 acres, and currently has 27 gates.

In comparison Harry Reid International Airport (LAS) is 2,800 acres, 14,515 ft runway, and 110 gates.

Looks like with proper space management you can achieve a lot. If AUS gets more long international flights perhaps will see a connector flight between the airports.

[LoneStarMike]

March 2024 Passenger, Cargo Traffic at Austin-Bergstrom

Total passenger traffic for March 2024 was 1,915,987, down 1.29% compared to March 2023.

Total passenger traffic for January – March 2024 was 4,864,338, down 0.96%, compared to January – March 2023.

Austin-Bergstrom International Airport Aviation Activity Report Calendar Year 2024 vs 2023

Total international passenger traffic for March 2024 was 95,088, up 9.24% compared to March 2023.

Total international passenger traffic for January – March 2024 was 224,163, up 6.91%, compared to January – March 2023.

[GoldenBoot]

^^^This jives with airport officials' revised projections after AA's reduction in service. In fact, it is a bit better than I thought it would be. New services coming on line this summer will push PAX growth back into the black soon.

It's really great to see the continued growth in international traffic.

[ahealy]

Question: do we ever think Austin Executive Airport will ever expand to smaller commercial flights like the S terminal? Re-naming of course.

I kind of wish we had a smaller regional airport to use...would be amazing. Rando, I know.

[LightChop]

About the only airport that would make sense for something like that would be San Marcos. KXAN did a piece a couple years ago in the middle of the South Terminal nonsense in which the San Marcos airport management was looking into opportunities for an air cargo facility for the region.

With Loop 110 open, the airport has slightly better access to 35. Lots of money would be required though, they would need to extend one of their runways about 2000 feet or so. There’s explosive development along SH-21 that’s going to start encroaching on the airport sooner rather than later. The plus side is that they have plenty of real estate along SH-21 for a terminal with 4-5 hardstands.

A recent example of this is Provo, UT.

[ahealy]

Originally Posted by LightChop

About the only airport that would make sense for something like that would be San Marcos. KXAN did a piece a couple years ago in the middle of the South Terminal nonsense in which the San Marcos airport management was looking into opportunities for an air cargo facility for the region.

With Loop 110 open, the airport has slightly better access to 35. Lots of money would be required though, they would need to extend one of their runways about 2000 feet or so. There’s explosive development along SH-21 that’s going to start encroaching on the airport sooner rather than later. The plus side is that they have plenty of real estate along SH-21 for a terminal with 4-5 hardstands.

A recent example of this is Provo, UT.

Interesting. I get that, but it also seems over saturated considering you have AUS and SAT relatively close to one another.

I was thinking something north of Austin might better serve Round Rock, Pflugerville, Cedar Park, Georgetown and Hutto residents.

[GoldenBoot]

There is very little reason for a second commercial airport in the Austin metro area. Maybe when the met's population approaches 5 or 6 million. But, that is decades away.

Provo was mentioned...just remember, PVU is a little over 50 miles from downtown Salt Lake City. That would be equivalent to putting a secondary airport between Salado & Belton, Kingsland/South Shore Lake Buchanan, Stonewall, Schertz, Sequin, La Grange, Rockdale or Dime Box.

[wwmiv]

Originally Posted by GoldenBoot

There is very little reason for a second commercial airport in the Austin metro area. Maybe when the met's population approaches 5 or 6 million. But, that is decades away.

Provo was mentioned...just remember, PVU is a little over 50 miles from downtown Salt Lake City. That would be equivalent to putting a secondary airport between Salado & Belton, Kingsland/South Shore Lake Buchanan, Stonewall, Schertz, Sequin, La Grange, Rockdale or Dime Box.

Provo is its own MSA as well, much larger than the size of Killeen (732k v 501k), and the location of the Killeen regional airport is on the same distance from downtown Austin as the towns you mentioned.