Austin-Bergstrom International Airport officials are expecting busy days around the upcoming holiday season.

The details

Officials predict Dec. 20, Dec. 22 and Dec. 23 to be busy at the airport with a projected 30,000 departing passengers. This is not a record-breaking passenger volume, officials said in a news release, but staff can except to see travelers who don't use ABIA often and are likely to be traveling with small children.

What you need to know

When arriving at ABIA, staff recommend the following tips:

• Prepare for heavy traffic driving to ABIA. Real-time traffic updates are available at www.drivetexas.org.
• Arrive 2 1/2 hours ahead of a domestic flight and three hours before international flights.
• Allow extra time to check luggage or return rental cars.
• Pack properly for Transportation Security Administration security screening. TSA rules can be found at www.tsa.gov.
• Avoid packing gifts that are already wrapped.
• If flying Allegiant or Frontier, arrive at The South Terminal, 10000 Logistics Lane, Austin.

In May—the airport's busiest month ever—ABIA officials announced changes to security checkpoints at the Barbara Jordan Terminal. The following security checkpoints are available:

• Checkpoint 1 is open for general screening, ADA screening and priority passenger screening, as well as Known Crew Members.
• Checkpoint 2 East is open for general screening but intermittently used by TSA to screen PreCheck customers at the discretion of the TSA.
• Checkpoint 2 West is open for PreCheck screening and Clear screening.

More TSA screening capacity is set to open in 2026 with the completion of the West Infill project, and more passenger queuing space will open in 2026 with the Atrium Infill project, officials said.

Zooming out

As Austin's population grows, and busy days become more frequent, ABIA officials are working to modernize and expand the airport to accommodate the needs of passengers over time.

Recently, airport officials announced a $33.27 million funding grant from the Federal Aviation Administration in October to support the construction of the airport’s Concourse B project. The project is expected to create at least 20 new airline gates, supporting additional airline operations in order to meet mounting airport demands from the Central Texas community, as previously reported by Community Impact.

The expansion program includes several projects at the airport spread over many years.