ABIA offers direct flights to Philly

AUSTIN (KXAN) - The city of Austin is booming, no question about that.

More travelers, more companies, more people moving here, which means more demands.

Austin-Bergstrom International Airport is trying to keep up with that demand. ABIA has seen 31 months of traffic increase, indicating a strong local economy.

This week, U.S Airways had its first nonstop flight from Austin to Philadelphia.

Jim Halbrook, ABIA spokesman, said flights like these are important for the future of our city. 

"A good business connection between two high-tech markets like Austin and Philadelphia, " Halbrook said.

In 2010, The Austin Chamber Air Services Task Force was formed. It consist of 25 Austin CEOs, including big names like Doug Driskell from Dell .

Their job is to bring more nonstop flights to Austin. They do so by asking 4,000 tech companies in the Austin area which cities they travel to the most.

The task force then meets with airlines to make a deal.

"They're going to put their jets where they are going to make the most money," Halbrook said.

As many as 9.1 million people traveled through ABIA last year, which generated $2.4 billion for the city's economy.

The task force has seen an increase in travelers from Europe and hope to add a direct flight from Austin to London in 2013.

ABIA hopes to add a fourth security check point to the south end of the terminal this year to ease foot traffic.