Austin-Bergstrom International Airport (AUS) continues its streak of shattering records, with the number of passengers in 2022 tipping over the 21 million mark for the first time. According to a report by KXAN, the final tally stood at a whopping 21,089,289 travelers navigating through the terminals, crushing the previous milestone set in 2019.
There's news brimming with more evidence of AUS's relentless upward trajectory, 2023's passenger count, despite missing December's digits, already floated past 20.2 million. Not merely resting on past accomplishments, airport officials are hustling for a yet higher goal, forecasting a surge to 22 million passengers in the new year, KXAN highlighted.
When it comes to peak periods, July of 2023 earned the title of the busiest month in AUS's history, bustling with over 2.04 million comings and goings. Following close behind, the airport experienced over 2 million passengers in October 2023, May and June of 2023, and October 2022 — all hitting slots in the top 10 busiest months on record, as per KXAN.
With an explosive nearly 10% increase in flyers since 2018, AUS shattered yet another annual record, reaching 17,343,729 people in 2019, as reported by KVUE. "We currently can accommodate the volume," Mandy McClendon, communications manager said, understanding that with the threshold crossed from a medium to a large airport, "we will need to add extra terminal capacity."
Reflecting the city's peculiar essence, travelers at AUS in 2019 indulged in over 1.6 million tacos and dispatched 3,000 bottles of Tito's Vodka. "That essentially signifies that along with Austin, the airport likes to keep it weird and reflect the local Austin flavor," McClendon mentioned to KVUE. Besides accommodating taste buds, the airport also enhanced travel with the addition of 24 new routes, including nonstop flights to Calgary, Frankfurt, Paris, and Amsterdam.
Aiming to double in size by 2040, AUS gears up to meet the mounting flocks of flyers. New executive director Jacqueline Yaft, heralding a "world-class facility we treasure as a community," continues to steer AUS towards accommodating the growing needs of Central Texas, as told to KVUE. The airport powers ahead, with the sky seemingly the only limit to its potential.
