Will Enlarge Paved Aircraft Area Around The Terminal, Enlarge Taxilanes

The FAA will award $12,752,721 in airport infrastructure grants to Austin-Bergstrom International Airport.

The grant includes $10.1 million in discretionary funds to be used for the final phase of expanding the paved aircraft area around the terminal by 48 acres and enlarging existing taxilanes on the apron around the terminal. This will better accommodate larger and more aircraft at Austin’s airport.

“These grants will help Austin better serve the flying public, which will strengthen the economy and create jobs in this community,” said U.S. Department of Transportation Secretary Elaine L. Chao.

“In our mobile society, we need infrastructure that can keep up with our increasing demands,” said U.S Sen. John Cornyn.  “Thanks to this grant, the Austin airport will be more efficient and ultimately safer for traveling Texans.  I’m proud to have supported this funding in the Senate and grateful to the Trump Administration for supporting Texans traveling to and from Austin.”

The aircraft apron expansion is a vital part of Austin’s airport expansion projects underway to keep up with current growth, prepare for future passenger increases, accommodate larger jets and expand air service for Austin. A related expansion underway will add nine new gates to the airport terminal. The expanded facility will increase the capacity of Austin’s airport to 15 million passengers annually. The existing facility was designed to serve 11 million passengers annually. In 2017, 13.89 million passengers traveled through Austin’s airport.

 “The support of Senator Cornyn and the Department of Transportation is instrumental to airport growth and greatly appreciated,” said Jim Smith, Executive Director Austin-Bergstrom International Airport. “Being able to accommodate larger and more aircraft positions at Austin’s airport better serves the Central Texas community by making our airport more attractive for domestic and international air service growth.”

The recent grant continues the support from the DOT and FAA for Austin airport apron expansion. Phase I of the apron expansion was awarded $14,518,190 in 2016 and Phase II of the apron expansion was awarded $14,938,574 in 2017.

(Source: Austin-Bergstrom International Airport news release)

FMI: www.abia.org