AUSTIN, Texas — As Austin-Bergstrom International Airport continues to see record-high numbers of travelers flying in and out, it's making changes to accommodate the influx of passengers.

On Thursday, the airport, along with its construction partners Whiting-Turner and Siemens Logistics, celebrated the beginning of construction on a new outbound baggage handling system.

The current system that has been in use for 20 years is being replaced and upgraded to meet modern industry standards.

“The record-breaking passenger growth AUS has experienced this year has been transformative,” said Gina Fiandaca, assistant city manager of the SD23 Mobility Outcome. “Today we celebrate this momentous project milestone after roughly five years of pre-design, design and enabling work to get us to this point. This project is a great example of how the airport is not only expanding and growing the terminal’s footprint, but investing in and improving existing facilities, which is critical as our airport continues to meet the needs of traveling Austinites.”

The outbound baggage handling system delivers luggage to the aircraft after it makes it is checked in at the airline ticket counter and goes through TSA. The new system plans to make this process more efficient, reliable and easier to use. This includes the addition of more conveyor belts at larger square footage, which will eventually allow for the processing of 4,000 additional bags per hour given the increased capacity to screen more bags.

“As AUS continues to accommodate the growing, unprecedented demand for travel, we’re thrilled to launch one of our first projects under our Journey with AUS airport improvement program,” said Jacqueline Yaft, Austin-Bergstrom International Airport CEO. “The outbound baggage handling system is critical for sustaining passenger growth and will increase reliability, improve the flow of airport operations and in turn, create a better experience for passengers at AUS. This is just one of many investments we have planned for our airport in the coming years.”

This new baggage system also creates opportunities to expand TSA checkpoint 3. It is expected to begin processing bags as of late 2024.