![]() The City of Austin hired John Almond-a civil engineer who had recently led the airport design team for the new airport expansion in San Jose, California-as Project Director for the new $585 million airport in Austin and to put together a team of engineers and contractors to accomplish the task. The city council decided to abandon the original plan to build the new airport near Manor, and resolved instead to move the airport to the Bergstrom site. The USAF also agreed not to demolish the existing facilities, including the nearly pristine main runway. The plans to construct a new airport at the Manor location were abandoned in 1991 when the Base Realignment and Closure Commission selected Bergstrom AFB for closure, and gave the nod to the city for the land and runways to be converted for use as a civilian airport. The city began acquiring the land but faced lawsuits from the Sierra Club and others concerned about the Manor location and its potential environmental impact. ![]() In November 1987, voters approved a referendum designating a site near Manor. In the 1980s, neighborhoods around Mueller applied enough political pressure to force the city council to choose a site for a new airport from locations under consideration. The Air Force rejected the proposal in 1978 as being too disruptive to its operations. Afterwards, the city submitted a proposal to the United States Air Force for joint use of Bergstrom Air Force Base in 1976. That idea was rejected, as few Austinites supported driving halfway to San Antonio on Interstate 35 to catch a flight. Īs Austin was quickly outgrowing the old Robert Mueller Municipal Airport, the city began considering options for a new airport as early as 1971, when the Federal Aviation Administration proposed that Austin and San Antonio build a joint regional airport. It would have this name until it was decommissioned in the early 1990s, with all military aviation ceasing in 1995 after more than 50 years. With the separation of the United States Air Force and United States Army in September 1947, the name again changed to Bergstrom Air Force Base. He was the first Austinite killed in World War II. The name of the base was changed to Bergstrom Army Airfield (AAF) in March 1943 in honor of Captain John August Earl Bergstrom, a reservist in the 19th Bombardment Group, who was killed at Clark Field, Philippines in 1941. Del Valle Airfield was activated on September 19, 1942, on 3,000 acres (12 km 2) leased from the City of Austin. This land became Del Valle Army Air Base, or Del Valle Airfield. ![]() In 1942, the city of Austin purchased land and donated the land to the Federal government of the United States for a military installation, with the stipulation that the city would get the land back when the government no longer needed it. As of 2018, there are 510 arrivals and departures on the typical weekday to 76 destinations in North America and Europe. The airport is the third busiest in Texas, after Dallas/Fort Worth and Houston–Intercontinental, as well as the 27th busiest airport in the United States by passenger traffic. The base was decommissioned in the early 1990s, and the land reverted to the city, which used it to replace Robert Mueller Municipal Airport as Austin's main airport in 1999. ![]() The airport lies on the site of what was Bergstrom Air Force Base, named after Captain John August Earl Bergstrom, an officer who was the first person from Austin to be killed in World War II. Located about 5 miles (8 km) southeast of downtown Austin, it covers 4,242 acres (1,717 ha) and has two runways and three helipads. Source: Federal Aviation Administration Īustin–Bergstrom International Airport, or ABIA ( IATA: AUS, ICAO: KAUS, FAA LID: AUS, formerly BSM), is an international airport in Austin, Texas, United States, serving the Greater Austin metropolitan area.
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