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Austin FC has announced its preseason schedule ahead of its second season. (Austin FC/Twitter)
The wait is (almost) over! Austin FC is just three weeks away from the start of its second season with four preseason-friendly matches slated for Feb. 9-19 ahead of its Feb. 26 home opener.
The four-match schedule will include two matches at the club's practice field, one friendly at Q2 Stadium, which will be open to the public, and one away match. Here's the schedule:
- The club will take on Toronto FC for the first time to date to kick off its preseason at Austin's practice field, St. David's Performance Center, on Wednesday, Feb. 9.
- Austin FC will then hit the road in a match against Texas foe Houston Dynamo on Sunday, Feb. 12 at Houston's PNC Stadium.
- They will take on current Liga MX champions Atlas FC for an international friendly at 8 p.m. on Wednesday, Feb. 16 at Q2 Stadium.
- The club will close out its preseason with an away scrimmage against Chicago Fire FC on Saturday, Feb. 19.
Only the Atlas FC match will be open to the public. Tickets to the Atlas FC friendly are included in season members' packages, while single-match tickets are available to the general public at SeatGeek.
Austin's regular roster will also be joined by five trialists including defender Graham Smith, midfielder/forward Milan Iloski, midfielder Dillon Powers, winger/forward Veljko Petkovic and defender/midfielder Tony Rocha. Each player will train and play with the team but is not guaranteed a spot on the team.
The regular season opener is scheduled for 5 p.m. on Saturday, Feb. 26 at Q2 Stadium.
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(AUS airport/Instagram)
With major entertainment events slated for October, the Austin-Bergstrom International Airport is gearing up for a busy month.
Artists and music lovers are set to pack into Zilker Park for The Austin City Limits Music Festival in the coming two weekends. Following that, Formula One will bring racing fans to the Circuit of the Americas.
For those two events, the airport is anticipating high passenger days with 30,000 or more people departing flights.
ABIA recommends arriving at least two and a half hours in advance for domestic flights on those days. For ACL, it's expected on both Sundays of the festival along with the Monday and Tuesday after. The F1-driven high passenger days are expected on Oct. 20-21 and Oct. 23-26.
\u201c#AustinCityLimits visitors, you\u2019re in for a weird and wild ride \ud83e\udd18\u262e\ufe0f \n\nFlying in or out of our airport? We got firm and fun tips for you: https://t.co/RawVRalOXN\u201d— Austin-Bergstrom International Airport (AUS) (@Austin-Bergstrom International Airport (AUS)) 1664894083
F1, especially, could draw in loads of travelers as the three-day event saw 400,000 attendees last year. ABIA warns that highways leading to the airport may see even higher traffic than usual around the event and that travelers should plan their route accordingly.
Bailey Grimmett, a spokesperson for ABIA, said travel numbers come in 24 hours in advance. So, it's hard to predict if the airport will see travel volumes at the same levels that have happened around previous F1 races or if it'll top ACL's flight traffic.
Still, she says historical knowledge points to a chance for it.
“We've had that Monday after F1 break the record for single busiest in airport history," Grimmett said. "So context clues I would say yes, but I can't confirm that. But the historical background points to that."
In anticipation of the high volume of flyers, the airport received additional TSA officers for security screening through the end of October. To prepare even further, the Department of Aviation and partners hosted a job showcase and hiring fair to address the continued labor shortage the airport has experienced.
Relief from hectic travel days is on the horizon with November likely to see a slowdown.
"I don't anticipate it will be as busy as October just because we don't have as many events going on," Grimmett said. "Thanksgiving is kind of our primary holiday that we see a lot of passengers coming in and out of the airport."
