Austin Bergstrom International Airport

Austin-Bergstrom International is the primary airport for the Texas state capital and one of the fastest-growing large airports in the United States, reflecting the explosive expansion of the Austin metro area as a technology, government, and music center. Built on the footprint of the former Bergstrom Air Force Base and opened to commercial service in 1999, AUS sits about 8 km (5 mi) southeast of downtown Austin at 542 ft (165 m) elevation. Passenger volume has more than doubled over the past decade, reaching 22.3M in 2024 — up from roughly 11M in 2014 — which places AUS firmly among the top 30 US airports and makes it the third-busiest in Texas after DFW and IAH. Southwest Airlines is the largest operator, followed by American, Delta, United, and a growing ultra-low-cost presence from Spirit, Frontier, and Breeze. The airport hosts 40 airlines across 182 scheduled routes to 98 destinations, including a rapidly expanding international tier with nonstops to London-Heathrow (British Airways), Frankfurt (Lufthansa), Amsterdam (KLM), and Mexican, Canadian, and Central American hubs. Operations are centered on the Barbara Jordan Terminal and a dedicated South Terminal for ultra-low-cost carriers, supported by two parallel runways — a 12,250 ft (3,734 m) primary strip (18R/36L) and a 9,000 ft (2,743 m) secondary (18L/36R). A multi-billion-dollar expansion program, the Journey With AUS plan, will add a new midfield concourse, a replacement headhouse, and additional aircraft parking over the second half of the 2020s. Capacity pressure is already acute during SXSW, Formula 1 weekends at Circuit of the Americas, and the Austin City Limits festival, when AUS regularly operates at or above its design load.