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To prepare for the new Midfield Concourse, Austin Airport’s South Terminal must be closed and removed within the next two years, according to a memo.
AUSTIN, Texas – As part of Austin’s airport expansion program announced by airport officials on Tuesday, the South Terminal is expected to close in the coming years to prepare for a new concourse at the airport, according to a memo that airport director Jacqueline Yaft wrote to Austin city guides.
The company that currently operates the terminal was surprised by the news on Tuesday and learned of the city’s intention to take over the building and then demolish it when the media learned that the Austin-Bergstrom International Airport expansion plans were moving forward.
A source from the company that operates the terminal told KVUE Wednesday that it is reviewing options to safeguard the company’s rights under the 40-year lease with the city.
“It is imperative that the South Terminal Facility be removed in a timely manner so that Midfield Concourse B development can be completed in a timeframe commensurate with the projected growth of airlines in AUS,” Yaft wrote in the memo.
The airport plans to build new taxiways and a hall with at least 10 new gates as part of the 2040 master plan approved by Austin City Council and the Federal Aviation Administration.
The abolition of the South Terminal has been cited by independent consultants as the most cost-effective way to advance the expansion plan, Yaft wrote in the memo. Expansion was halted in the last year or so as the airport waited to see how post-pandemic passenger traffic would return.
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The city owns the South Terminal but is renting it to an outside contractor who manages the operation of the terminal, so it must negotiate “a fair and amicable outcome” to get the facility back, Yaft wrote. The external business operator is Highstar Capital / LoneStar Airport Holdings.
Yaft wrote a letter to the company “informing them of the city’s intention to acquire the lease in the South Terminal,” the memo says. Aviation staff also plan to brief the council offices of the plan in the next few weeks.
JUST IN: A source familiar with the company that owns / operates @SouthTermAUS tells @KVUE that the company was surprised by yesterday’s @ AUStinAirport announcement and is exploring all options to exercise the company’s rights under its Maintaining a 40-year lease with the city. https://t.co/YCDBEwPhNN
– Bryce Newberry (@Bryce_Newberry) July 14, 2021
The two airlines currently operating from the South Terminal, Allegiant and Frontier, will continue to fly non-stop at the Barbara Jordan Terminal, according to the memo.
Allegiant Airlines announced in April that it would invest $ 75 million in Austin and make the airport a base for their operations by November. The investment is intended to create 90 full-time positions and to store three of Allegiant’s Airbus A320 aircraft at the airport for an extended period.
“We love serving the Austin community and connecting vacationers to one of the hottest destinations in the country. We have been flying to Austin since 2013 and have grown steadily over the years, “Allegiant Airlines said in a statement. “While we are still learning the details of the airport expansion and development program, we are excited about our future there and are on the right track to start basic operations as planned in November. AUS has assured Allegiant that we will work together on a transition plan and strategy to accommodate our future growth. “
In 2019, a record year for AUS, Allegiant carried 186,268 passengers, according to airport data. The number of the airline’s passengers decreased by 33% compared to the previous year.
The first flight to depart from the South Terminal was in April 2017 after the company invested more than $ 12 million in modernizing the facility. LoneStar has continued to make investments to improve the facility and meet passenger or airline needs, bringing the total investment to $ 18 million to date.
The airport will work with LoneStar to coordinate opportunities at the Barbara Jordan Terminal for companies operating out of the South Terminal in terms of employees, service providers, concessionaires and vendors, according to the memo.
Ultra-low-cost airlines will “have the potential to increase their capacity and operations at the Barbara Jordan Terminal and in the future Midfield Concourse B.”
In a statement on Wednesday, AUS wrote:
“The new midfield railway hall of the airport expansion and development program requires the relocation of the existing midfield taxiways. Based on the advice of independent consultants, the safest, most operationally efficient and most cost-effective alignment of the future midfield taxiways will require the closure and removal ”of the south terminal. AUS intends to work with LoneStar, the current tenant of the South Terminal, during the transition to negotiate an amicable solution to the termination of the existing lease between LoneStar and the city regarding the South Terminal. “
Editor’s note: An earlier version of this story said LoneStar was the owner of the terminal. It has been edited to reflect that the city owns the terminal while LoneStar operates the south terminal but is not the owner.
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