THR E E P RONGED EXPANS I ON
After 17 years with 25 gates, the airport has undertaken an aggressive expansion since opening the South Terminal in 2016. ADD I NG GAT E CAPAC I T Y
The Austin-Bergstrom International Airport expansion plan shows three main components: improvements to the Barbara Jordan Terminal, a new concourse, and utilities and air eld infrastructure.
includes $100 million to extend the upper oor over the baggage claim, which would add ticketing and security space. While much of the expanded gate capacity would come fromthenewconcourse, the airport also plans to spend $70million on gate capacity in its west wing and $14 million on interim new gate capacity in its east wing. The expansion on the west would add three permanent gates, and the expansion on the airport’s east involves busing operations that will temporarily take passengers to board planes on the tar- mac, airport spokesperson Sam Haynes said. The budget details $15 million for supporting infra- structure and $1.5 million to add a security checkpoint and improve the processing speed of the Transportation Security Administration’s machinery. Cost estimates for the new concourse, called the Mid- eld Concourse, are to be determined. It would con- nect to the Barbara Jordan Terminal by a tunnel and have capacity for 10 or more gates. The estimated time- line for the concourse imple- mentation is around seven years, Haynes said. The third phase of the program includes infra- structure and utilities enhancements, including a new central utility plant and electrical substation. Eugene Sepulveda, chair of Austin’s Aviation Advisory Commission, said that ABIA, which has gained 22 new non- stop routes since March 2020, needs a sense of urgency. “Even though we had done the nine-gate expan- sion and opened up in 2019,
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SPIRIT OF TEXAS DR.
PRESIDENTIAL BLVD.
Airport opens with 25 gates
1999
1 OPTIMIZING BARBARA JORDAN TERMINAL • New baggage handling system • Expanded ticket counters • Adding a fourth security checkpoint to expand passenger screening and security capacity • Three new gates on west end 2 A NEW CONCOURSE MIDFIELD CONCOURSE • 10 new gates plus room for future expansion • Tunnel connecting Barbara Jordan Terminal and new concourse
South Terminal opens, adding 3 gates to the
2016
airport 9-gate
1
3A
2019
expansion in the Barbara Jordan Terminal is completed City plans to close South Terminal Completion of 47 permanent gates in total, including the Mid eld Concourse, is anticipated Master plan calls for 64 gates
2
2023
3A UTILITIES AND AIRFIELD INFRASTRUCTURE
• Central utility plant • Electrical substation
2028
3B
3B SOUTH TERMINAL Airport plans to close the South Terminal by 2023
2037
SOURCE: CITY OF AUSTIN DEPARTMENT OF AVIATION COMMUNITY IMPACT NEWSPAPER COURTESY GOOGLE EARTH
N
SOURCE: CITY OF AUSTIN DEPARTMENT OF AVIATION COMMUNITY IMPACT NEWSPAPER
in this expansion program as fast as possible.” Airport o cials view the recently announced expan- sion program as an initial phase in attaining the goals laid out in its 2040 master plan. The plan forecasts that the airport will reach 31 mil- lion passengers and need 64 gates by 2037, nearly double the record-breaking 17 mil- lion passengers in 2019 and current 34 gates plus the three South Terminal gates. In 2019, nine new gates opened as part of a $350 million expansion on the eastern wing. Four of those gates are designed to accommodate international ights. Airport o cials also continued to plan for a new baggage handling system and expanded security capacity during the pandemic. The expansion program aims to make large-scale renovations to the main
terminal, known as the Bar- bara Jordan Terminal, add a new concourse that could house 10 or more gates and close the recently opened South Terminal by 2023. “We did not take our foot o the gas during COVID[- 19], because some of these projects we know we needed them to continue working,” Yaft said. She added the airport has experienced remarkable growth in recent years, with boardings growing by almost 10% between 2018 and 2019 compared to around 4% for the industry during the same period, according to Federal Aviation Administration data. The expansion program Yaft said much of the pro- posed program is concep- tual, as a principal architect will be hired in Feb. 2022 to solidify designs and time- lines. However, some of the
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In July 2021, ABIA reported it had its fth busiest month in history with more than 1.5 million passengers. As tra c increased in July, ABIA made another splash, announcing a massive expansion plan called the Airport Expansion and Development Program, as part of its rollout of the 2019 master plan. ABIA CEO Jacqueline Yaft said Austin’s population growth and airline demand to add ights indicated the tim- ing for expansion was right. “In this stage today, we are recovering much faster than what our forecast has called for,” Yaft said. “We are getting requests by the airlines for growth and more capacity and room for them to add more ights, so all indications are showing that we need to implement our master plan for 2040 and get
$325 million Barbara Jordan Terminal optimizations are already underway. Funding for the expansion will come from airport revenues and cash reserves, as well as Fed- eral Aviation Administration grants, according to an ABIA press release. The highest priced item in the Barbara Jordan Termi- nal optimizations is the $125 million baggage handling system, which could be com- pleted as early as late 2023. The second largest element
“WE DIDNOT TAKE OUR FOOT OFF THE GAS DURING COVID 19 , BECAUSE SOME OF THESE PROJECTS WE KNOWWE NEEDED THEM TO CONTINUEWORKING.” JACQUELINE YAFT, AUSTIN BERGSTROM INTERNATIONAL AIRPORT CEO
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COMMUNITY IMPACT NEWSPAPER • COMMUNITYIMPACT.COM
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