Austin airport sees some of its busiest days ever during SXSW

Hope Unger, Austin American-Statesman
·2 min read
Austin-Bergstrom International Airport this month saw three of its five busiest days ever at thanks in large part to South by Southwest and spring break.
Austin-Bergstrom International Airport this month saw three of its five busiest days ever at thanks in large part to South by Southwest and spring break.

The Austin airport saw three of its five busiest days ever during the South by Southwest Festival and spring break.

Airport officials said the number of passengers on March 10, the Friday that SXSW kicked off, was the second-highest number in its history, with 36,841. On the following Monday, March 13, the airport saw its third-most number of passengers with 36,265. And on March 12, the first Sunday of SXSW, the airport had 35,506 passengers, it's fifth-greatest number ever.

'What is happening?': boygenius surprises Austin airport travelers with two SXSW 2023 shows

The record for most passengers at the airport was 43,177 on Oct. 25, 2022, the Monday after the Formula 1 race at Circuit of the Americas.

Austin airport passengers during SXSW

During SXSW 2023, the airport's average number of passengers was over 30,000:

  • Thursday, March 9 — 33,858

  • Friday, March 10 — 36,841

  • Saturday, March 11 — 29,584

  • Sunday, March 12 — 35,506

  • Monday, March 13 — 36,265

  • Tuesday, March 14 — 30,651

  • Wednesday, March 15 — 31,047

  • Thursday, March 16 — 29,068

  • Friday, March 17 — 27,172

  • Saturday, March 18 — 24,296

  • Sunday, March 19 — 31,933

  • Monday, March 20 is projected to have over 26,000 passengers

Airport officials said they had expected a busy terminal beginning March 8 through early April due to many area events, such as SXSW, Dell Match Play golf, NASCAR, the Texas Relays and the CMT Awards. They said that 1,822,198 passengers traveled through the airport in March 2022, which was the busiest March in the airport's history. They said airlines are offering 10% more seats than last year, and expect this year to surpass last March's numbers.

An airport spokesperson said they don’t expect this week to be as busy as it was during SXSW, but do expect passenger volume to be higher than usual.

Austin's airport, by the numbers:21 million travelers, 791,000 tacos and 52 tons of brisket

This article originally appeared on Austin American-Statesman: SXSW brings near-record number of passengers to Austin airport