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Local flavor to international service.
If you’ve done your fair share of traveling you know airports in U.S. cities tend to be pretty monolithic: a Byzantine maze with little character of the host city, save for a few pictures buried among the onslaught of national chain ads and outlets. In typical Austin shunnery for all things by the book, you won’t find that sterile scene here.
You’ll hear music in the air almost immediately upon stepping foot on solid land at Austin-Bergstrom International Airport (ABIA), as local bands perform live on one of four stages. Yes, live music in the airport. Just as quickly you’ll catch the waft of fresh barbecue barbecuing, and Tex-Mex grub a-sizzling from more than a dozen locally-owned eateries. Yes, unique local restaurants at the airport. What you’ll see will surprise, too: a simple, clean airport that could very well be the easiest major city airport to maneuver in the country.
But of course, ABIA is ultimately a means to an end. Whether you’re in Austin for fun or work, you want to know the lay of the land. So below are a few of the nuts and bolts on getting to and fro the airport. For up-to-the-minute flight arrivals/departures info, click on the icons. If you’re trying to remember the name of that great band you caught at the airport, click here for the live music schedule of past and upcoming performers at ABIA.   - ◊ ABIA is eleven miles from the center of downtown (intersection of 6th St. and Congress Ave.); about 13 miles from University of Texas campus.
- ◊ Travel time to downtown from the airport is generally 15-25 minutes, depending upon traffic; travel time to UT campus area is generally 20-35 minutes.
 The easy to navigate Austin airport
- ◊ There are nine rental car companies operating at the airport.
- ◊ It is a $15 cab ride to downtown, there are three cab companies providing airport service. There is also shuttle service ($10) and limousine services.
- ◊ Public bus transportation is provided by Capital Metro. Buses depart from the airport every 40 minutes, starting at 5:20am with the last bus departing at 11:20pm. The bus takes approximately 20 minutes to reach downtown and 35 minutes to reach campus. For a complete bus schedule, click here.
- ◊ Approximately 10 million passengers will fly through ABIA in 2008; June 2008 broke the record for the most passengers in a single month: 869,308.
- ◊ Southwest Airlines accounts for the most flights at ABIA, responsible for roughly 35% of the passengers.
- ◊ The main terminal is named the Barbara Jordan Passenger Terminal, named after Barbara Jordan, an influential American figure who was the first black woman elected to the Texas Senate, a three-time U.S. Congresswoman, and a lifetime educator.
- ◊ There are 25 gates in the Barbara Jordan Terminal; the facility was designed with expansion in mind, allowing for up to 55 gates if the need, ahem, when the need arises.
- ◊ Parking is free under 30 minutes; $2 up to one hour; $2 each additional hour; daily maximums (tax included): $7 budget, $10 close parking, $20 garaged; parking is free to disabled veterans, former POWs, Congressional Medal of Honor recipients, and Purple Heart recipients.
- ◊ Just so you don’t get the wrong idea: the airport is not on Airport Boulevard.
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