Austin-Bergstrom International Airport announces new flight service while anticipating capacity cuts

Austin-Bergstrom International Airport has announced new flights starting this month while anticipating capacity cuts with the softening economy’s effect on travel demand.

Jason Alexander, Austin’s deputy chief of airport affairs, gave a briefing on air service updates to the Airport Advisory Commission at its regularly scheduled meeting on April 9.

“We are anticipating quite a bit of new service starting this month and over the next few months. Of particular note Southwest, Frontier, Delta, WestJet and Spirit are adding service,” Alexander said, pointing out the mix of large carriers and ultra-low-cost carriers.

“We also have some new nonstops that will be launched between May and December of this year. Most of those are year-round and there are some seasonal routes,” Alexander said. The following new destinations will be added for year-round, nonstop service: Milwaukee (MKE); Panama City, FL (ECP); Indianapolis (IND); Jacksonville, FL (JAX); Memphis, TN (MEM); San Francisco (SFO); and Tampa, FL (TPA).

Additionally, Reno, NV (RNO); Vancouver, Canada (YVR); Cabo San Lucas (SJD); and Cancun, Mexico (CUN) will be added for seasonal, nonstop service. Eight new destinations will be added for nonstop service, but their frequencies have yet to be determined. Those airports are: Chicago O’Hare (ORD); Orlando, FL (MCO); Cincinnati (CVG); Phoenix (PHX); Miami (MIA); Philadelphia (PHL); Detroit (DTW); and San Diego (SAN).

With these new service developments, ABIA is anticipating capacity cuts due to the current economic climate.

“We do continue to see and hear about a softening in the economy and travel demand reducing and we do expect this to affect travel at AUS, but as of now we cannot really forecast how much of what that impact will be,” Alexander said.

ABIA does not have access to view advanced airline bookings. Rather, its reports provided to the Airport Advisory Commission reflect historical information, actual flown and seats per sale. Airport Affairs is continuing to monitor ongoing travel demand with its service delivery team.

“We need to prepare for (changes) based on all the economic uncertainty and the travel demand softening so we can prepare a little bit for some announcements or perhaps some capacity cuts,” said Jamy Kazanoff, deputy chief of air service at ABIA, noting that the number of frequencies for some routes and the size of carriers could shift in the near future.

“Airports cannot forecast when airlines will make major changes. We just cannot, but strategically, you can group alliances and you can ensure there is common use and overflow eventually that can assist with any major changes,” Kazanoff said.

For example, Delta, KLM and Aeroméxico are all members of the SkyTeam Alliance, which is one of the three major global airline alliances. These alliances offer passengers access to a wider network of destinations and benefits through partner airlines. Airports can better predict flight patterns and travel demand by grouping alliance members together.

ABIA’s expansion project is anticipated to be completed by 2030, with the atrium infill, west infill and TSA checkpoint 3 expansion projects to be finished in 2026. As progress is made, Air Service will be able to review alliances and travel demand more strategically.

Photo made available through a Creative Commons license.

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