delete

Delete

This month marks the 10th Anniversary of the BA190/191 route - Central Texas' first trans-continental route.



Correct me if I'm wrong - but, BA has flown the following on the route:

-B788 (inaugural months before being upgraded in summer 2014).
-B789
-B787-1000
-B773
-B744
-A350-900
-A350-1000 (current equipment)

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

Total passengers - 1,483,372 (down 1.57% from Jan. 2023)

International passengers - 65,852 (down 0.84% from Jan. 2023)

Here's a blast from the past:

• Video Link

And a good article:

10 Years Later: British Airways Has Carried Over 1 Million Austin Passengers

Yep. This is to be expected. If AUS sees any growth in PAX this year, it will be minimal due to the great AA pullout. However, some decent news, I read that AUS will see available seats increase 0.5% in 2Q2024 over what was available in 2Q2023.

An interesting article about Delta’s future in AUS. The Points Guy interviewed Amy Martin who is Delta’s VP of North America network planning.

Delta confident Austin expansion will pay off as it plugs Texas route map gap

“She acknowledged that Texas is a ‘hole’ in Delta's route map.”

"[Austin] is well positioned in the middle of the country so that you can drive some good, strong connectivity,"

“Martin was mum on where Delta plans to fly to next from Austin. The main focus, she indicated, will continue to be catering to local travelers and where they want to go.”

My guess is that they are positioning Austin to be a hub in the long term. As a laymen, it seems to make too much sense not to do that. It probably couldn't happen until the end of the decade though. It likely wouldn't be possible until the new terminal gets built.

I concur.

Concourse B and tunnel info and diagrams

https://assets.austintexas.gov/finan..._ATT_18_v1.pdf

If this is going to be the case, it would make sense that ABIA work with Delta to fund (at least part of) the expansion. They may already be in (private) discussions to do so. We shall see.

Unlike American and Southwest, Delta takes a very calculated approach to route expansions.

I like that after total buildout of Concourse B, ABIA will have ~75 gates. I also like seeing that they are thinking/planing for the future beyond the ultimate buildout of Concourse B. Going as far as reviewing possible Passenger Conveyance Systems to move passengers out past Concourse B.

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

Passenger Activity: Total passenger traffic for February 2024 was 1,464,979
up 0.10% compared to February 2023.

Passenger Activity: Total passenger traffic for January – February 2024 was 2,948,351
down 0.75%, compared to January – February 2023.

International Passenger Activity: Total passenger traffic for February 2024 was 63,223
up 12.47% compared to February 2023.

Passenger Activity: Total passenger traffic for January – February 2024 was 129,075
up 5.26%, compared to January – February 2023.

SkyWest Airlines opening a crew domicile June 1 at AUS.

This sounds important and I guess I don't understand....pardon my ignorance but what does this mean?

It just means they will be basing a "crew" at AUS. Ever hear the attendants say something to the effect of: "On behalf of this Atlanta-based crew, we thank you for flying with us today"?

SkyWest contracts with Alaska, American, Delta, and United on small, regional routes (for the most part).

As far as it relates to Delta, 12 out of the 13 RJ flights will be handled by SkyWest/Delta Connection. Endeavor/Delta Connection will still operate the 1x daily flight to CVG. While SkyWest does operate flights for both AA and UA they currently don't at AUS. AA RJ flights to AUS are operated by Envoy and Republic and UA flights are operated by Mesa.

It appears as though SkyWest believes there is enough traffic at AUS to open a crew domicile here. As it stands now all the SkyWest/Delta Connection RJ flights will be operated with E175's. The one daily CVG flight will be on a CRJ900.

What makes this interesting is that pilots will be based at AUS as well as cabin crew.

^^^Is this some sort of hint at an unannounced expansion in regional connecting traffic may be coming to AUS?

AUS is adding a temporary hold room facility located on the eastside of the maintenance ramp for hardstand operations.

...The project will add a temporary gate hold room facility that provides early gate capacity to enhance operational resiliency. Also included in the project scope are six narrow body gate positions.

Some of the new features of the space are:

Restrooms
Vending machines
Circulation for arrivals and departures
Bussing operation from the Barbara Jordan Terminal
The project will be located on the west side of the airfield.

https://www.austintexas.gov/AUSJourney

Exciting news. Curious if AUS still plans on using the east apron for hardstand op's as well.

I expect to see another announcement for AUS growth coming from Delta shortly.