AUSTIN | ABIA Updates

[LoneStarMike]

Originally Posted by Mikey711MN

• The BA widebody just looks massive at Gate 2...it towers over the fence while driving up to the upper departure level and occupies a surprising amount of space on the tarmac at that angle
• No read on how well the arriving flight BA 191 was managed by FIS, but by all indications (reported elsewhere), it was a pretty full flight inbound...the new facility is nowhere near done, although it's at least underway!

Re: customs - before we got the F1 race, the customs facilities at AUS could only process 90-110 passengers per hour. There were some interim modifications made in 2012 that increased the capacity to 160-180 passengers per hour, so hopefully the wait wasn't too bad.

From AirportImprovement.com:

How Austin-Bergstrom Int’l Readies for Race Day
By Kathy Scott
As published in: Airport Improvement Magazine - January-February 2014

As the first point of entry into the United States for most of the race teams and fans alike, its ability to clear high volumes of passengers through Customs in a timely manner was crucial. Because the United States does not have a Formula 1 team, all of the teams would clear Customs at AUS unless they flew into the States earlier at a different point of entry. Each of the 12 teams typically brings as many as 70 people. Add in a cadre of support personnel for the event itself and throngs of fans who come to watch it, and AUS’ usual processing rate of 90 to 110 passengers per hour was not nearly fast enough. Modifying the airport’s U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP) area to ensure a positive first impression to travelers was a high-priority objective.

[SNIP]

Modifications to the CBP area nearly doubled the airport’s throughput of international passengers, enabling the airport to clear 160 to 180 passengers per hour. Changes were completed November 9 for the November 18 race, Halbrook reports.

“Enlarging the area allowed CBP to streamline the process,” he explains. “Passengers were able to pick up their luggage and proceed through Customs with their passport and declaration form, streamlining the procedure to one step. That change was able to nearly double the number of travelers processed.”

Modifications were also needed to bring a Boeing 747 aircraft directly to Gate 2 — a first at AUS.

Of all the local station, KEYE (IMHO) had the best coverage of the inaugural flights arrival into AUS.

British Airways Begins Austin's First Euro Flight

[Austin1971]

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[DoubleC]

Originally Posted by Austin1971

Learned that a B777-200 will substitute for the 787 in the event of an equipment failure.

Are you thinking what I'm thinking ?

Originally Posted by Austin1971

Also learned that Austin has more passengers traveling to Asia than any other Texas city. Currently all those passengers have to connect via DFW or IAH. If true I could see a future n/s to Asia on the Dreamliner.

I thought it was usually cheaper to connect somewhere than to fly direct? That would be cool; a 787 JAL or ANA. Could ABIA handle more wide bodies at the same time? I believe the gates at the corners of the terminal probably allow for a larger wingspan.

What ever happened to Delta's 757s in Austin? I recall we even had American send some 757s in the past. Seems like we're not always up gauging aircraft.

[wwmiv]

Originally Posted by Austin1971

The flight was delayed due to a lightning strike. They had to do a thorough inspection of the plane. Luckily BA had a couple of 787 engineers aboard the inbound flight or it could have been delayed longer.

Learned that a B777-200 will substitute for the 787 in the event of an equipment failure.

Also learned that Austin has more passengers traveling to Asia than any other Texas city. Currently all those passengers have to connect via DFW or IAH. If true I could see a future n/s to Asia on the Dreamliner.

Interesting and surprising.

[Austin1971]

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[texastarkus]

Originally Posted by Austin1971

Eastbound is now covered thru London Heathrow with One World partners BA and AA. Eventually Westbound service to Seoul or Tokyo will happen with Star Alliance partners ANA or Asiana and UA, One World with JAL and AA or SkyTeam with KAL and Delta.

Rumors have been circulating at the port that UA may fill the Westbound route with a 787...Time will tell...

When a widebody is using gate 2 currently gate 3 can only accomodate a 757, nothing larger. The port is thinking about re-configuring gate 3 so that two widebody's can use gate 2 and 3 at the same time. May or may not happen since the gate expansion is going to happen.

With all of this east to west and west to east attention, it's only a matter of time an airline from up north say Air Canada (or Jazz) gives Austin a third try or will it be WestJet?
Then what about more routes to the south? AirTran to add more Mexico destinations or how about another Mexican airline adding routes? American and United should be getting a little uneasy with all of the press coverage and they are not in it.
What about domestic routes? Who is next? More flights by Jet Blue, Virgin America, or Alaska? How about a new carrier or two?

Living in north SA I just wonder why these flights are not coming to SAT.

[hookem]

Originally Posted by texastarkus

With all of this east to west and west to east attention, it's only a matter of time an airline from up north say Air Canada (or Jazz) gives Austin a third try or will it be WestJet?
Then what about more routes to the south? AirTran to add more Mexico destinations or how about another Mexican airline adding routes? American and United should be getting a little uneasy with all of the press coverage and they are not in it.
What about domestic routes? Who is next? More flights by Jet Blue, Virgin America, or Alaska? How about a new carrier or two?

Living in north SA I just wonder why these flights are not coming to SAT.

I don't think there is the traffic to support international flights from Austin to Canada. There never was, despite airlines trying the route. Just because Canada is closer to the US doesn't mean there are many folks flying there from here. I think the next international service will be from an Asian carrier, perhaps even Korean Air. They already have flights to Houston and Dallas, but those are on larger planes -- if they downgauged either the Houston or Dallas route to a 787, and added 787 service to Austin, I think they could potentially make all 3 cities work.

As for why not SAT... well, 2 million less passengers than AUS, demographics (not as much leisure traffic to Europe and less business travel to Asia), and the growing number of international events in Austin (SXSW, F1, and MotoGP) are the reasons why...

[Digatisdi]

Originally Posted by DoubleC

I thought it was usually cheaper to connect somewhere than to fly direct? That would be cool; a 787 JAL or ANA.

In my experience it's often cheaper to fly direct when it comes to international destinations. At least to London that is, for example, AUS>DFW>LHR and AUS>JFK>LHR cost me $1,600~$1,800 but AUS>LHR runs about $990~$1,100

Originally Posted by Austin1971

Eastbound is now covered thru London Heathrow with One World partners BA and AA. Eventually Westbound service to Seoul or Tokyo will happen with Star Alliance partners ANA or Asiana and UA, One World with JAL and AA or SkyTeam with KAL and Delta.

Rumors have been circulating at the port that UA may fill the Westbound route with a 787...Time will tell...

I think my best bet would be Korean Air to INC given the Korean population here and the business travel but I wouldn't rule out an ANA to NRT because I've noticed a marked increase in Japanese business travellers here over the course of the past year.

Originally Posted by hookem

I don't think there is the traffic to support international flights from Austin to Canada. There never was, despite airlines trying the route. Just because Canada is closer to the US doesn't mean there are many folks flying there from here. I think the next international service will be from an Asian carrier, perhaps even Korean Air. They already have flights to Houston and Dallas, but those are on larger planes -- if they downgauged either the Houston or Dallas route to a 787, and added 787 service to Austin, I think they could potentially make all 3 cities work.

Agreed, we've got a few tourists from Canada every month but I definitely feel that there isn't enough travel between any city in Canada to Austin to justify a single direct route with any airline, even to Toronto for connections.

Frankly my dream would be to have a JAL flight to NRT because I'm fairly fluent in Japanese and a OneWorld Ruby flier.

[GoldenBoot]

Originally Posted by Austin1971

Eastbound is now covered thru London Heathrow with One World partners BA and AA. Eventually Westbound service to Seoul or Tokyo will happen with Star Alliance partners ANA or Asiana and UA, One World with JAL and AA or SkyTeam with KAL and Delta.

Rumors have been circulating at the port that UA may fill the Westbound route with a 787...Time will tell...

I would love to see a westbound route out of Austin. However, I confident in believing that KAL will not fulfill this route. It will start its first routs out of IAH in May. And, it already has a route out of DFW.

Asiana is out (for the time being), as it does not operate the B787 (nor does it have any on order).

We can discount AA on doing anything! They would have done so long ago if they were interested. They would rather passengers transfer at DFW, LAX or ORD for the westbound route. This same hypothesis could be placed on UA (via different hubs). I have a hard time thinking UA would place a transpacific flight out of Austin rather than channel passengers through IAH, ORD, LAX or SFO.

JAL...maybe. I see ANA picking up the route before JAL would. However, JAL does not currently fly to any Texas city (neither does ANA). This is mainly due to the founding partners of OneWorld and Star Alliance having major hubs in Texas.

Delta...hummm. That's tough. Delta no longer has a hub in Texas. However, they are down the list on PAX at ABIA. I'm not sure Austin is a big enough market for them to place a transpacific flight out of AUS. Unless they plan on challenging AA (DFW) and UA (IAH) by making Austin a Delta/SkyTeam "hub." Yes, that's far fetched and very wishful thinking...but, maybe. They could be the catalyst for the development of the South Terminal.

ABIA could also court an airline to develop a round-the-world route through Austin. For example, Singapore Airlines flies out of IAH...not to Singapore (or even west). It flies non-stop to Moscow and continues on to Singapore from Moscow.

Having said that...and as an example: if the Austin route for BA is successful, they may consider flying the AUS-NRT route???

The arrival of BA to Austin is very exciting. It does open the door of possibilities to other transoceanic routes out of AUS. I'd love to see that happen...and the sooner the better.

[Austin1971]

[q

[Jdawgboy]

I have no doubt in my mind that if not right now, then very soon we will have a market that can sustain a direct route to Seoul and its not just Samsung that is fueling demand, it is also our exploding Asian population growth. Its no secret that the Asian population in Austin is the fastest growing demographic outpacing the Hispanic/Latino growth. This trend has only sped up in recent years and will continue to do so. The Korean population is leading that growth and is expected to double or triple in the coming years.

[GoldenBoot]

Please do not misunderstand me...I too, believe a non-stop route to Asia will be launched from ABIA. I also agree that the B787 and the forthcoming A350 will be game changers in the airline service industry.

With regard to Austin and its westbound route, the question is when will it commence and by which airline? Who knows.

[lzppjb]

Originally Posted by Jdawgboy

Its no secret that the Asian population in Austin is the fastest growing demographic outpacing the Hispanic/Latino growth.

I am ok with this. I wouldn't mind an Asian girlfriend.

[DoubleC]

Originally Posted by GoldenBoot

Delta...hummm. That's tough. Delta no longer has a hub in Texas. However, they are down the list on PAX at ABIA. I'm not sure Austin is a big enough market for them to place a transpacific flight out of AUS. Unless they plan on challenging AA (DFW) and UA (IAH) by making Austin a Delta/SkyTeam "hub." Yes, that's far fetched and very wishful thinking...but, maybe. They could be the catalyst for the development of the South Terminal..

Anymore? Where was it originally?

Also, couldn't a city like Austin become a hub anytime, even with a lack of traffic most hubs have? A Delta hub in Austin would mean Texas would have a base for each of the current airline giants (American, United, and Delta), not to mention Southwest already has a large presence in its 4 largest cities. People wouldn't necessarily have to want to go to Austin, but Austin could still be of use if it serves as a place for people to connect to other flights. Delta currently has no hubs in the central US (except Memphis maybe, which has less traffic than Bergstrom), so this would provide some competition with American and United in Texas.

My father recently flew on Delta from Austin to Minneapolis to Phoenix since it was the cheapest route available (Southwest was pricy). It did seem inconvenient to fly all the way up North to Minneapolis, and then travel a long distance southwest since there wasn't another closer hub to connect with.

I'm not so sure an Austin hub with Delta would provide a lot of international or transoceanic flights though.

[austlar1]

Originally Posted by DoubleC

Anymore? Where was it originally?

Also, couldn't a city like Austin become a hub anytime, even with a lack of traffic most hubs have? A Delta hub in Austin would mean Texas would have a base for each of the current airline giants (American, United, and Delta), not to mention Southwest already has a large presence in its 4 largest cities. People wouldn't necessarily have to want to go to Austin, but Austin could still be of use if it serves as a place for people to connect to other flights. Delta currently has no hubs in the central US (except Memphis maybe, which has less traffic than Bergstrom), so this would provide some competition with American and United in Texas.

My father recently flew on Delta from Austin to Minneapolis to Phoenix since it was the cheapest route available (Southwest was pricy). It did seem inconvenient to fly all the way up North to Minneapolis, and then travel a long distance southwest since there wasn't another closer hub to connect with.

I'm not so sure an Austin hub with Delta would provide a lot of international or transoceanic flights though.

Delta has no intention of creating a hub again in Texas. They shuttered their DFW hub (which was quite substantial) about 15 years ago. They got rid of a Cincinnati hub after the NW merger, and they downsized NW's Memphis hub after the merger. They seem to have decided to have hubs only at airports that can serve both as hubs and support a large local customer base, but Delta does still maintain a small hub in Salt Lake City. There are rumors that it might not last long. Delta is most interested in beefing up it's presence on the West Coast and is trying hard to dominate at Seattle by upping competition with Alaska Air in spite of the fact that Delta and Alaska Air have a history of marketing alliances in the past. These moves give Delta added strength at LAX and SFO. Don't forget that Delta is a very major US airline serving Asia and Europe too. I would not be surprised to see a Delta/Alaska Air merger one of these days. Alaska Air is very strong on north/south routes on the west coast, and they really have no other potential merger partners. Delta is also eager to maintain and increase market share in the Northeast. They can best do this by maintaining Fortress Atlanta and making full use of their hubs in Detroit and Mpls/St.Paul. They have lots of slots at La Guardia, Boston Logan, and Washington National (Reagan) in addition to a big international terminal at JFK. I think Delta has more or less forfeited the South Central US airline passenger business to AA and UA.

Delta does plan to add 18 flights out of Love Field to Atlanta and their other hubs plus LA and La Guardia later this year after the Wright Amendment finally phases out. It is kind of an end run around AA at their Fortress DFW. It now appears that Delta and Virgin America are going to slug it out to see who gets the needed gates at Love Field. AA has to give up the gates as part of the consent agreement that they signed when the merger with US Air took place. Delta is already selling tickets, but Virgin America is putting up a fight for the two gates.
http://www.usatoday.com/story/todayi...field/6052767/

[DoubleC]

Originally Posted by DoubleC

What ever happened to Delta's 757s in Austin? I recall we even had American send some 757s in the past. Seems like we're not always up gauging aircraft.

Speak of the devil, a 752 is inbound from Atlanta, according to flightaware. Am I the only one who browses flights on flightaware?

[austlar1]

Originally Posted by DoubleC

Speak of the devil, a 752 is inbound from Atlanta, according to flightaware. Am I the only one who browses flights on flightaware?

Not any more. What a cool site. I love all the interactive features. Thanks.

[Austin1971]

[q

[lzppjb]

I don't browse flightaware, but I've used it to track family members' flights. It also gets used during coaching/recruiting rumors.

[Spaceman]

Originally Posted by lzppjb

I don't browse flightaware, but I've used it to track family members' flights. It also gets used during coaching/recruiting rumors.

I'm tracking a friend's flight to Europe today... I've heard an app is being developed that will allow a user to point a smartphone at a plane, in flight, and get instant info on that plane, i.e., carrier , speed, destination, etc.