Welcome to the Austin Aviation thread - 2022 edition. Please continue to post your news and discussions below.

Link to the 2021 edition:
viewtopic.php?f=3&t=1456117

October figures were released a few days ago: https://www.austintexas.gov/news/octobe ... -bergstrom

Notable data:
Graph shows a small decrease (roughly 60k) less pax traffic in Oct 2021 vs Oct 2019
Overall 90.6% YTD increase from Jan-Oct 2020 to Jan-Oct 2021
Overall 199.6% increase from Oct 2020 to Oct 2021

...of the Oct 2021 vs Oct 2020 %s, the airline breakdown was:
[Oct 2021 pax total, Oct 2020-Oct 2021 %s]
WN 513,091, up 224.9%
AA 397,581, up 237.2%
DL 204,790, up 231.4%
UA 183,690, up 137.5%
AS 73,886, up 234.2%
NK 51,853, up 79.6%
B6 40,386, up 104.5%
F9 20,453, up 21.8%
G4 19,127, up 428.7%
AM 5,407 [no % because no service in Oct 2020]
BA 3,412 [no % because no service in Oct 2020]
HA 3,160 [no % because no service in Oct 2020]
AC 2,944 [no % because no service in Oct 2020]
SY 1,661, up 6.5%
Swift Air 204 [no % because no service in Oct 2020]
TUI 86 [no % because no service in Oct 2020]

A few observations:
WN and AA, as expected, continued their dominance in October
DL largely maintained its position and is still in somewhat-distant 3rd place with just over 1/2 of AA's traffic and close to UA's 4th-place figure
UA only grew 137.5%, a significant shrinking of its position; had they grown at AUS's overall % they'd have taken 3rd place and pushed DL to 4th
NK, B6 and especially F9 shrank relative to AUS's overall 199.6% growth
G4 grew at a race twice that of AUS's overall % though it still had a small number of overall seats, similar to F9's

EDIT: clarity

Western727 wrote:

October figures were released a few days ago: https://www.austintexas.gov/news/octobe ... -bergstrom

Notable data:
Graph shows a small decrease (roughly 60k) less pax traffic in Oct 2021 vs Oct 2019
Overall 90.6% YTD increase from Jan-Oct 2020 to Jan-Oct 2021
Overall 199.6% increase from Oct 2020 to Oct 2021

...of the Oct 2021 vs Oct 2020 %s, the airline breakdown was:
[Oct 2021 pax total, Oct 2020-Oct 2021 %s]
WN 513,091, up 224.9%
AA 397,581, up 237.2%
DL 204,790, up 231.4%
UA 183,690, up 137.5%
AS 73,886, up 234.2%
NK 51,853, up 79.6%
B6 40,386, up 104.5%
F9 20,453, up 21.8%
G4 19,127, up 428.7%
AM 5,407 [no % because no service in Oct 2020]
BA 3,412 [no % because no service in Oct 2020]
HA 3,160 [no % because no service in Oct 2020]
AC 2,944 [no % because no service in Oct 2020]
SY 1,661, up 6.5%
Swift Air 204 [no % because no service in Oct 2020]
TUI 86 [no % because no service in Oct 2020]

A few observations:
WN and AA, as expected, continued their dominance in October
DL largely maintained its position and is still in somewhat-distant 3rd place with just over 1/2 of AA's traffic and close to UA's 4th-place figure
UA only grew 137.5%, a significant shrinking of its position; had they grown at AUS's overall % they'd have taken 3rd place and pushed DL to 4th
NK, B6 and especially F9 shrank relative to AUS's overall 199.6% growth
G4 grew at a race twice that of AUS's overall % though it still had a small number of overall seats, similar to F9's

EDIT: clarity

I know AA added a few flights in October, with even more started early November. With all the seats added by AA to AUS I wonder if they start closing the gap between WN, especially with the international adds of late. Of course AA won't overtake WN but the gap could close.

malev2012 wrote:

Western727 wrote:

October figures were released a few days ago: https://www.austintexas.gov/news/octobe ... -bergstrom

Notable data:
Graph shows a small decrease (roughly 60k) less pax traffic in Oct 2021 vs Oct 2019
Overall 90.6% YTD increase from Jan-Oct 2020 to Jan-Oct 2021
Overall 199.6% increase from Oct 2020 to Oct 2021

...of the Oct 2021 vs Oct 2020 %s, the airline breakdown was:
[Oct 2021 pax total, Oct 2020-Oct 2021 %s]
WN 513,091, up 224.9%
AA 397,581, up 237.2%
DL 204,790, up 231.4%
UA 183,690, up 137.5%
AS 73,886, up 234.2%
NK 51,853, up 79.6%
B6 40,386, up 104.5%
F9 20,453, up 21.8%
G4 19,127, up 428.7%
AM 5,407 [no % because no service in Oct 2020]
BA 3,412 [no % because no service in Oct 2020]
HA 3,160 [no % because no service in Oct 2020]
AC 2,944 [no % because no service in Oct 2020]
SY 1,661, up 6.5%
Swift Air 204 [no % because no service in Oct 2020]
TUI 86 [no % because no service in Oct 2020]

A few observations:
WN and AA, as expected, continued their dominance in October
DL largely maintained its position and is still in somewhat-distant 3rd place with just over 1/2 of AA's traffic and close to UA's 4th-place figure
UA only grew 137.5%, a significant shrinking of its position; had they grown at AUS's overall % they'd have taken 3rd place and pushed DL to 4th
NK, B6 and especially F9 shrank relative to AUS's overall 199.6% growth
G4 grew at a race twice that of AUS's overall % though it still had a small number of overall seats, similar to F9's

EDIT: clarity

I know AA added a few flights in October, with even more started early November. With all the seats added by AA to AUS I wonder if they start closing the gap between WN, especially with the international adds of late. Of course AA won't overtake WN but the gap could close.

I agree, and appreciate the early November AA adds mention, which I'd forgotten about. Thinking about it, that suggests that November's figures might show AA doubling DL's figures (or more).

Really hoping that we see progress on the new terminal and a conclusion to legal issues with the South Terminal. Gate 13 bus area should be completed by mid year so at least some strain will be alleviated. Next up should be the West terminal infill and gate extension.

I hope 2022 sees Lufthansa and KLM return and arrive, the long awaited flight to Asia would be nice. I would really prefer a flight to Tokyo seeing how awesome the city is and the Japanese people are but Japan has been heavily locked down.

masonh2479 wrote:

Really hoping that we see progress on the new terminal and a conclusion to legal issues with the South Terminal. Gate 13 bus area should be completed by mid year so at least some strain will be alleviated. Next up should be the West terminal infill and gate extension.

I hope 2022 sees Lufthansa and KLM return and arrive, the long awaited flight to Asia would be nice. I would really prefer a flight to Tokyo seeing how awesome the city is and the Japanese people are but Japan has been heavily locked down.

I agree on LH and KL. While TYO would be really nice, I understand from some posters in the 2021 thread that SEL is more likely given the large Samsung presence in the area.

What are chances of seeing OMA-AUS on AA or WN? Especially with connections on the AUS end, seems like it would work? I know a couple that go back and forth to AUS every 3-4 weeks, they fly AA through DFW in winter or drive in the summer currently. They really wish for a nonstop AA flight and they would fly year-round. I thought there might be a possibility. E175 would be perfect for the market. I wonder how the market currently ranks without nonstop service from AUS?

joeljack wrote:

What are chances of seeing OMA-AUS on AA or WN? Especially with connections on the AUS end, seems like it would work? I know a couple that go back and forth to AUS every 3-4 weeks, they fly AA through DFW in winter or drive in the summer currently. They really wish for a nonstop AA flight and they would fly year-round. I thought there might be a possibility. E175 would be perfect for the market. I wonder how the market currently ranks without nonstop service from AUS?

Definitely a possibility, I am a little surprised it is not a route yet given how competitive AA and WN have gotten with each other at AUS. I will say that if one of the two announces the route, I would think the other would announce as well. I used to live in Austin and I now live in Wisconsin so I would love to see AA and WN battle it out AUS-MKE or AUS-MSN. MKE is much more likely as WN doesn't fly to MSN yet. I do wonder how many more flights can be added given gate constraints and routine waits in the alley for a gate to open.

Western727 wrote:

masonh2479 wrote:

Really hoping that we see progress on the new terminal and a conclusion to legal issues with the South Terminal. Gate 13 bus area should be completed by mid year so at least some strain will be alleviated. Next up should be the West terminal infill and gate extension.

I hope 2022 sees Lufthansa and KLM return and arrive, the long awaited flight to Asia would be nice. I would really prefer a flight to Tokyo seeing how awesome the city is and the Japanese people are but Japan has been heavily locked down.

I agree on LH and KL. While TYO would be really nice, I understand from some posters in the 2021 thread that SEL is more likely given the large Samsung presence in the area.

I hope I just had a rare bad experience with them but I flew KAL on the 777 and wasn't impressed at all. Old aircraft and rude flight crew. So if Seoul was announced I would hope it would be Delta or Asiana. Flew on a JAL 777 and the experience was far better. Either destination would be great for Austin. I would think if 2020 didn't exist we would have an announcement by now.

masonh2479 wrote:

Western727 wrote:

masonh2479 wrote:

Really hoping that we see progress on the new terminal and a conclusion to legal issues with the South Terminal. Gate 13 bus area should be completed by mid year so at least some strain will be alleviated. Next up should be the West terminal infill and gate extension.

I hope 2022 sees Lufthansa and KLM return and arrive, the long awaited flight to Asia would be nice. I would really prefer a flight to Tokyo seeing how awesome the city is and the Japanese people are but Japan has been heavily locked down.

I agree on LH and KL. While TYO would be really nice, I understand from some posters in the 2021 thread that SEL is more likely given the large Samsung presence in the area.

I hope I just had a rare bad experience with them but I flew KAL on the 777 and wasn't impressed at all. Old aircraft and rude flight crew. So if Seoul was announced I would hope it would be Delta or Asiana. Flew on a JAL 777 and the experience was far better. Either destination would be great for Austin. I would think if 2020 didn't exist we would have an announcement by now.

Seems like anything new US-Asia is really out of the question right now. Many existing US-Asia routes are even being chopped or reduced too.

AUS ICN would be on the 787

PITFlyer330 wrote:

AUS ICN would be on the 787

Hypothetically Delta (if they wanted to) could use an a332 between AUS and ICN as well. I wonder if the a339 would be a bit too big.

CarlosSi wrote:

PITFlyer330 wrote:

AUS ICN would be on the 787

Hypothetically Delta (if they wanted to) could use an a332 between AUS and ICN as well. I wonder if the a339 would be a bit too big.

Well first off Delta plans to do SLC-ICN 2023 according to the Air Service Development Manager of SLC. But it will most likely be on Korean Air and on a 787-9. As Delta wants to use their widebodies for transatlantic routes.

I think AUS is too small of a Delta “Focus City” to get anything from them like this. I think that its way to small to be a Delta focus city. But then again PDX did get HND and ICN from Delta. Im pretty sure that for the near future the best bet AUS has at an Asian route is going to be with a oneworld member. Like JAL to NRT on a 787. I can’t see this happening until AUS hits 30 million a year though. So maybe ~2030 is when AUS will get an Asian flight.

SLCaviation wrote:

CarlosSi wrote:

PITFlyer330 wrote:

AUS ICN would be on the 787

Hypothetically Delta (if they wanted to) could use an a332 between AUS and ICN as well. I wonder if the a339 would be a bit too big.

Well first off Delta plans to do SLC-ICN 2023 according to the Air Service Development Manager of SLC. But it will most likely be on Korean Air and on a 787-9. As Delta wants to use their widebodies for transatlantic routes.

I think AUS is too small of a Delta “Focus City” to get anything from them like this. I think that its way to small to be a Delta focus city. But then again PDX did get HND and ICN from Delta. Im pretty sure that for the near future the best bet AUS has at an Asian route is going to be with a oneworld member. Like JAL to NRT on a 787. I can’t see this happening until AUS hits 30 million a year though. So maybe ~2030 is when AUS will get an Asian flight.

Good to know about the SLC-ICN flight, thank you. I agree that AUS-Asia isn't coming anytime soon, and most likely not on DL since their AUS focus city plans have been virtually shelved (thus, no feed), having been shadowed big time by AA. I think 2030 is a bit far out, though, and I'm willing to bet it'll happen as soon as 2025 on a OW carrier, assuming AA maintains its AUS focus city at that point. I think AUS will maintain only 3 EU flights (BA and KL/LH once they start/resume respectively), its AM flight (with possibly increased frequencies and/or upgauging to a 737) and its HA flight for the foreseeable future.

Western727 wrote:

SLCaviation wrote:

CarlosSi wrote:

Hypothetically Delta (if they wanted to) could use an a332 between AUS and ICN as well. I wonder if the a339 would be a bit too big.

Well first off Delta plans to do SLC-ICN 2023 according to the Air Service Development Manager of SLC. But it will most likely be on Korean Air and on a 787-9. As Delta wants to use their widebodies for transatlantic routes.

I think AUS is too small of a Delta “Focus City” to get anything from them like this. I think that its way to small to be a Delta focus city. But then again PDX did get HND and ICN from Delta. Im pretty sure that for the near future the best bet AUS has at an Asian route is going to be with a oneworld member. Like JAL to NRT on a 787. I can’t see this happening until AUS hits 30 million a year though. So maybe ~2030 is when AUS will get an Asian flight.

Good to know about the SLC-ICN flight, thank you. I agree that AUS-Asia isn't coming anytime soon, and most likely not on DL since their AUS focus city plans have been virtually shelved (thus, no feed), having been shadowed big time by AA. I think 2030 is a bit far out, though, and I'm willing to bet it'll happen as soon as 2025 on a OW carrier, assuming AA maintains its AUS focus city at that point. I think AUS will maintain only 3 EU flights (BA and KL/LH once they start/resume respectively), its AM flight (with possibly increased frequencies and/or upgauging to a 737) and its HA flight for the foreseeable future.

Yea 3 EU flights one of each alliance. Could honestly see South American flights before Asian flights.

Virgin Atlantic to open a route to London using flights VS231/232 ?
https://twitter.com/SPD_travels

davidjohnson6 wrote:

Virgin Atlantic to open a route to London using flights VS231/232 ?
https://twitter.com/SPD_travels

Fake news channel. They have 0 proof and no evidence to support their claims. The bio says that it is a little big based on their own opinions. VS will most likely do TPA,MSP or SLC.

davidjohnson6 wrote:

Virgin Atlantic to open a route to London using flights VS231/232 ?
https://twitter.com/SPD_travels

This would be great if true!

SLCaviation wrote:

davidjohnson6 wrote:

Virgin Atlantic to open a route to London using flights VS231/232 ?
https://twitter.com/SPD_travels

Fake news channel. They have 0 proof and no evidence to support their claims. The bio says that it is a little big based on their own opinions. VS will most likely do TPA,MSP or SLC.

actually i am pretty sure they are right. I have a friend with AUS info who said a new airline is coming soon

VS is no surprise anyway i was hoping for LÁTAM haha

PITFlyer330 wrote:

SLCaviation wrote:

davidjohnson6 wrote:

Virgin Atlantic to open a route to London using flights VS231/232 ?
https://twitter.com/SPD_travels

Fake news channel. They have 0 proof and no evidence to support their claims. The bio says that it is a little big based on their own opinions. VS will most likely do TPA,MSP or SLC.

actually i am pretty sure they are right. I have a friend with AUS info who said a new airline is coming soon

VS is no surprise anyway i was hoping for LÁTAM haha

No kidding! A flight to South America or Asia would be more beneficial than another to London but service is service and I am excited!

SLCaviation wrote:

davidjohnson6 wrote:

Virgin Atlantic to open a route to London using flights VS231/232 ?
https://twitter.com/SPD_travels

Fake news channel. They have 0 proof and no evidence to support their claims. The bio says that it is a little big based on their own opinions. VS will most likely do TPA,MSP or SLC.

He is not a fake news channel. I just have no proof of this yet.

SLCaviation wrote:

SLCaviation wrote:

davidjohnson6 wrote:

Virgin Atlantic to open a route to London using flights VS231/232 ?
https://twitter.com/SPD_travels

Fake news channel. They have 0 proof and no evidence to support their claims. The bio says that it is a little big based on their own opinions. VS will most likely do TPA,MSP or SLC.

He is not a fake news channel. I just have no proof of this yet.

Oooh, a 2nd LHR flight! I wonder what equipment they'll use if it's true. They fly the 333, 35X and 789 so it could theoretically be any of these. Since their 789 has slightly fewer seats than their 333, I'm guessing it'll be the 789.

Western727 wrote:

SLCaviation wrote:

SLCaviation wrote:

Fake news channel. They have 0 proof and no evidence to support their claims. The bio says that it is a little big based on their own opinions. VS will most likely do TPA,MSP or SLC.

He is not a fake news channel. I just have no proof of this yet.

Oooh, a 2nd LHR flight! I wonder what equipment they'll use if it's true. They fly the 333, 35X and 789 so it could theoretically be any of these. Since their 789 has slightly fewer seats than their 333, I'm guessing it'll be the 789.

Here's to hoping it's the 787, love that aircraft, a joy to fly on as well.

I do wonder if norse is looking at OSL and PAR to AUS now

PITFlyer330 wrote:

I do wonder if norse is looking at OSL and PAR to AUS now

Let’s see if they actually start any service, period, first.

DI never launched CDG-AUS (it was on the books but COVID killed it). I half expect AF to add 4x week CDG once KL starts it’s 3x to AMS (my understanding is that is all the slots at AMS KL could get, so it would give AF/KL daily service).

As for OSL the lack of Norwegian tourism to Texas (or any other source of demand) I would put money on an Asian route opening — even one of the ME3 carriers announcing service — long before I would ever envision an OSL-AUS route. (And to be clear, I don’t expect either of those to happen soon.)

There’s long and thin and then there’s that.

khowaga wrote:

PITFlyer330 wrote:

I do wonder if norse is looking at OSL and PAR to AUS now

Let’s see if they actually start any service, period, first.

DI never launched CDG-AUS (it was on the books but COVID killed it); given the lack of Norwegian tourism to Texas I would put money on an Asian route opening — even one of the ME3 carriers announcing service — long before I would ever envision an OSL-AUS route. (And to be clear, I don’t expect either of those to happen soon.)

There’s long and thin and then there’s that.

I share your reluctance on DI restarting AUS from anywhere. With 4 presumed players (BA, KL, LH and if it happens, VS) in the market, there'll be plenty of feeder options within the EU and beyond. Even if VS turns out to be a false rumor, LHR, FRA and AMS have most of the EU covered.

If VS news is true, good coverage by DL partners combined with KL to AMS, AM to MEX, and WS to YYC. Too bad its unlikely they will add P2P domestic flying.

Looks like flight is bookable now!

Virgin Atlantic - London Heathrow to Austin. Flights start May 25th.

VS231 LHR 1135-1605 AUS (Mon, Wed, Fri & Sun)

VS232 AUS 1805-0900+1 LHR (Mon, Wed, Fri & Sun)

Flights are operated on Boeing 787-9 aircraft.

So this means that 2 787s 1 350, 1 A333 as the lineup of widebodies in Austin. Will make plane spotting more interesting.

malev2012 wrote:

Looks like flight is bookable now!

Virgin Atlantic - London Heathrow to Austin. Flights start May 25th.

VS231 LHR 1135-1605 AUS (Mon, Wed, Fri & Sun)

VS232 AUS 1805-0900+1 LHR (Mon, Wed, Fri & Sun)

Flights are operated on Boeing 787-9 aircraft.

So this means that 2 787s 1 350, 1 A333 as the lineup of widebodies in Austin. Will make plane spotting more interesting.

Yahoo!!! Article: https://onemileatatime.com/news/virgin- ... n-flights/

Finally a n/s option to London for all those SkyMiles and Medallion members without having to connect thru ATL, DTW, MSP, JFK or BOS.

Since all the widebodies into AUS (except HA) are on the ground at similar times, will the 2 widebody international gates suffice? I've not looked at the specific days of the week the sub-dailies operate but that would be moot if any of them decide to go daily in the future.

masonh2479 wrote:

PITFlyer330 wrote:

SLCaviation wrote:

Fake news channel. They have 0 proof and no evidence to support their claims. The bio says that it is a little big based on their own opinions. VS will most likely do TPA,MSP or SLC.

actually i am pretty sure they are right. I have a friend with AUS info who said a new airline is coming soon

VS is no surprise anyway i was hoping for LÁTAM haha

No kidding! A flight to South America or Asia would be more beneficial than another to London but service is service and I am excited!

Austin seems to be right up COPAs alley. Wonder if they will ever come?

dfwking wrote:

masonh2479 wrote:

PITFlyer330 wrote:

actually i am pretty sure they are right. I have a friend with AUS info who said a new airline is coming soon

VS is no surprise anyway i was hoping for LÁTAM haha

No kidding! A flight to South America or Asia would be more beneficial than another to London but service is service and I am excited!

Austin seems to be right up COPAs alley. Wonder if they will ever come?

Copa or avianca

Congratulations to AUS! Quite a feather in the cap of your Air Service Development team to land a 2nd foreign flag to Heathrow; IMO, AUS has now graduated from the int'l air service category of mid-sized American cities to large cities.

I will be anxiously awaiting the next intercontinental market to be connected nonstop to the Texas state capital -- will it be another European city, Latin America, or perhaps Asia?

bb

SANFan wrote:

Congratulations to AUS! Quite a feather in the cap of your Air Service Development team to land a 2nd foreign flag to Heathrow; IMO, AUS has now graduated from the int'l air service category of mid-sized American cities to large cities.

I will be anxiously awaiting the next intercontinental market to be connected nonstop to the Texas state capital -- will it be another European city, Latin America, or perhaps Asia?

bb

Next up we need to get the new terminal finally progressing, we are bursting at the seams here! It's so bad the airport is turning gate 13 into a bus gate. Bunch of legal shenanigans going on with the South Terminal. That and our airport authority and local gov are reaaaaallllyyyy slow and getting things going. That 9 gate extension that opened years back brought the airports capacity from very overcrowded to overcrowded. Land isn't the issue here, which I'm sure it unfortunately will be for you guys at SAN.

PITFlyer330 wrote:

dfwking wrote:

masonh2479 wrote:

No kidding! A flight to South America or Asia would be more beneficial than another to London but service is service and I am excited!

Austin seems to be right up COPAs alley. Wonder if they will ever come?

Copa or avianca

If LATAM wasn't bankrupt they would be nice too.

SANFan wrote:

Congratulations to AUS! Quite a feather in the cap of your Air Service Development team to land a 2nd foreign flag to Heathrow; IMO, AUS has now graduated from the int'l air service category of mid-sized American cities to large cities.

I will be anxiously awaiting the next intercontinental market to be connected nonstop to the Texas state capital -- will it be another European city, Latin America, or perhaps Asia?

bb

It’s been a few years since anyone ran the numbers, but demand from AUS to South America was always pretty low and it didn’t seem feasible that we’d get a direct flight.

Granted, at the time popular thinking was that a second carrier starting AUS-Europe would kill BA because there wasn’t enough demand for two flights, so I’d be curious to see how they’ve changed?

masonh2479 wrote:

SANFan wrote:

Congratulations to AUS! Quite a feather in the cap of your Air Service Development team to land a 2nd foreign flag to Heathrow; IMO, AUS has now graduated from the int'l air service category of mid-sized American cities to large cities.

I will be anxiously awaiting the next intercontinental market to be connected nonstop to the Texas state capital -- will it be another European city, Latin America, or perhaps Asia?

bb

Next up we need to get the new terminal finally progressing, we are bursting at the seams here! It's so bad the airport is turning gate 13 into a bus gate. Bunch of legal shenanigans going on with the South Terminal. That and our airport authority and local gov are reaaaaallllyyyy slow and getting things going. That 9 gate extension that opened years back brought the airports capacity from very overcrowded to overcrowded. Land isn't the issue here, which I'm sure it unfortunately will be for you guys at SAN.

That and the whole project got put on hold because they want to pay for a good much with airline fees, which bottomed out during the pandemic.

Sometimes I feel like AUS is the polar opposite of CMH—when I grew up in Columbus, it seemed like they were always planning for growth that never came (including when they hilariously renumbered all the gates to reflect expansion to 70 gates that, 30 years later, still hasn’t happened).

While AUS is in constant denial that the growth is not only happening but has happened. (See also: I-35 expansion and, my personal favorite, the head of CAMPO saying that he didn’t want MoPac to be considered the regional alternative to I-35. Uh… it’s been that way for 20 years, dude. Smell the coffee.)

masonh2479 wrote:

Bunch of legal shenanigans going on with the South Terminal.

What's going on with the South Terminal? I understand it will go away to allow for development of the midfield complex.

phatfarmlines wrote:

masonh2479 wrote:

Bunch of legal shenanigans going on with the South Terminal.

What's going on with the South Terminal? I understand it will go away to allow for development of the midfield complex.

The developer is suing the city because they believe under their contract they should have had the right to be consulted on the expansion proposal.

https://www.austinmonitor.com/stories/2 ... -terminal/

Noticed a fun visitor when I got to Bergstrom this morning. Qatar’s A350-1000 A7-ANL at gate 2. Looks like a divert from IAH yesterday.

https://twitter.com/jtahmase/status/1480208030365011978?s=21

khowaga wrote:

phatfarmlines wrote:

masonh2479 wrote:

Bunch of legal shenanigans going on with the South Terminal.

What's going on with the South Terminal? I understand it will go away to allow for development of the midfield complex.

The developer is suing the city because they believe under their contract they should have had the right to be consulted on the expansion proposal.

https://www.austinmonitor.com/stories/2 ... -terminal/

Thanks for the article link. Seems the group is planning to spend approximately $1 million to accommodate a base for Allegiant. What would that have looked like? An expansion of the South Terminal building?

khowaga wrote:

masonh2479 wrote:

SANFan wrote:

Congratulations to AUS! Quite a feather in the cap of your Air Service Development team to land a 2nd foreign flag to Heathrow; IMO, AUS has now graduated from the int'l air service category of mid-sized American cities to large cities.

I will be anxiously awaiting the next intercontinental market to be connected nonstop to the Texas state capital -- will it be another European city, Latin America, or perhaps Asia?

bb

Next up we need to get the new terminal finally progressing, we are bursting at the seams here! It's so bad the airport is turning gate 13 into a bus gate. Bunch of legal shenanigans going on with the South Terminal. That and our airport authority and local gov are reaaaaallllyyyy slow and getting things going. That 9 gate extension that opened years back brought the airports capacity from very overcrowded to overcrowded. Land isn't the issue here, which I'm sure it unfortunately will be for you guys at SAN.

That and the whole project got put on hold because they want to pay for a good much with airline fees, which bottomed out during the pandemic.

Sometimes I feel like AUS is the polar opposite of CMH—when I grew up in Columbus, it seemed like they were always planning for growth that never came (including when they hilariously renumbered all the gates to reflect expansion to 70 gates that, 30 years later, still hasn’t happened).

While AUS is in constant denial that the growth is not only happening but has happened. (See also: I-35 expansion and, my personal favorite, the head of CAMPO saying that he didn’t want MoPac to be considered the regional alternative to I-35. Uh… it’s been that way for 20 years, dude. Smell the coffee.)

No kidding, everyone except the airport authority wants this project under contraction now. The authority and the council are still focused on discussions. I hope the airlines really start complaining and make it a point to state that they would have added more flights but there was no space.

I don't know how much gate 13 will help or who will be using it besides the likely Spirit.

masonh2479 wrote:

PITFlyer330 wrote:

dfwking wrote:

Austin seems to be right up COPAs alley. Wonder if they will ever come?

Copa or avianca

If LATAM wasn't bankrupt they would be nice too.

once the DL LATAM joint business is approved we may see a nonstop to Sao Paulo

PITFlyer330 wrote:

masonh2479 wrote:

PITFlyer330 wrote:

Copa or avianca

If LATAM wasn't bankrupt they would be nice too.

once the DL LATAM joint business is approved we may see a nonstop to Sao Paulo

I think Latam and or Delta would do hubs first. Like DTW, MSP, SLC, SEA etc.

Are any South American airlines even expanding right now? Would love to see Avianca, Copa, and LATAM all show up but that is very far fetched. Copa might be the most likely, they have expanded in the US in the not so distant past I believe.

masonh2479 wrote:

Are any South American airlines even expanding right now? Would love to see Avianca, Copa, and LATAM all show up but that is very far fetched. Copa might be the most likely, they have expanded in the US in the not so distant past I believe.

yes avianca expanded with a bunch of routes and copa expanded to ATL

PITFlyer330 wrote:

masonh2479 wrote:

Are any South American airlines even expanding right now? Would love to see Avianca, Copa, and LATAM all show up but that is very far fetched. Copa might be the most likely, they have expanded in the US in the not so distant past I believe.

yes avianca expanded with a bunch of routes and copa expanded to ATL

Thanks, I am not very familiar with South American airlines. I’ve flown on LAN over a decade ago but that was it.

Can the LHR-AUS market sustain profitably 2 carriers? And what is it about the Austin market that eurocarriers would want to add it to their networks?

marcogr12 wrote:

Can the LHR-AUS market sustain profitably 2 carriers? And what is it about the Austin market that eurocarriers would want to add it to their networks?

Yes, Austin is a booming tech market and a place that seemingly everyone young wants to travel too. Austin also draws heavily from San Antonio. Austin also has a lot of service from different airlines given it isn't a hub for a single one so each alliance has some form of connection opportunity. London is the busiest international route from Austin by far and having another airline and alliance on the route I don't thin will harm anyone. Everybody now is just waiting for the Asian route.