Austin continues to grow, and so does the region's demand for air travel to destinations across the country and around the globe. Through the Journey With AUS program, Austin-Bergstrom International Airport (AUS) is expanding to meet this demand, aiming to improve travel experiences while maintaining Austin's unique character.
When AUS first opened in 1999, it featured 25 gates and was designed to serve about 11 million passengers a year. A nine-gate expansion in 2019 increased that capacity by an additional 4 million passengers. With steady growth in passenger activity since its opening, AUS served a record-breaking number of travelers just before the COVID-19 pandemic halted global air travel.
At the height of the pandemic, barely over 10,000 travelers flew in and out of AUS in a single month—a significant drop from the millions of travelers typically seen each month. However, this decline did not last long. As COVID-19 vaccines became widely available and travel restrictions were lifted, passengers returned to AUS.
With only two months of steep decline in passenger activity, airport teams saw projection-defying growth in late 2020 as airlines prepared their Spring 2021 schedules. It became clear that AUS had transitioned from a medium-sized airport in 2019 to a large-sized airport post-pandemic. The Journey With AUS program was launched as a response to modernize and enhance the airport for future growth.
The first project under this program was completed in late 2021 with the opening of a new TSA Checkpoint. Since then, several key projects have progressed rapidly from idea to design to construction. These include the West Gate Expansion, Atrium Infill, and International Arrivals projects—all aimed at addressing post-pandemic growth needs.
Over the past year, seven key projects have entered either construction or design phases. In the last eight months alone, AUS has advertised twelve solicitations for construction and professional services to secure necessary resources for these pivotal works.
The West Gate Expansion construction began recently along with groundbreaking celebrations for other initiatives like West Infill in Spring 2024. Many key projects are expected to be completed within the next couple of years, including those mentioned above. Longer-term projects such as new Arrivals and Departure Halls and Concourse B expansion are slated for completion by the early 2030s.
While not all improvements may be immediately noticeable, these interconnected projects aim to enhance travel experiences significantly over time.
For more details on each project and ongoing updates, visit the Journey With AUS website.
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