AUSTIN (KXAN) — Austin is growing and the city’s airport is seeing the impact. Last year, Austin-Bergstrom International Airport set records for the number of passengers flying in and out of the airport.

In the first three months of 2015, ABIA saw more than 2.5 million passengers. In that same period this year, nearly 2.8 million passengers traveled in and out of ABIA. That’s up more than 10 percent year to year.

Now, ABIA is gearing up to expand the number of gates for planes and passengers. Construction will close part of the terminal. The airport will use extended jetways at gate number 4 to get passengers to their planes. When it’s complete, the east side of the airport will have 9 new permanent gates.

ABIA was originally built to hold 11 million travelers a year. The fact of the matter is, it’s too small, and the airport wants to change that.

“The culture is great. There’s lots of good food, There’s huge diversity. Music obviously is a huge pull. But it’s so much more than that, the weather is great. It’s just a great place to live,” said Kendra Pole.

Austin draws travelers from all over the world. Last year, the airport built for 11 million, had nearly 12 million check in to fly out. This year there will be more.

“Almost out to where that fence is. Where that plane is parked. That’s how far out that the new concourse is going to go,” said Derick Hackett, communication specialist from the airport.

The city council approved to spend $289 million last October for nine new gates and the shops, restaurants, and baggage carousels to go with them.

“It’s going to be able to let us expand and hold up to and process 15 million people per year,” said Hacket.

During the day, gates 1, 2, and 3 will operate out of the extended jetway at gate four. However, at night that gate will close as workers build the new wing. In the terminal, temporary walls and partitions will be erected to create temporary gate access. There will also be new elevated walkways constructed at the gate that will allow passengers to board and disembark without much hassle. The work is set to be finished in 2019.

The new gates are just the latest in a string of projects at ABIA to keep up with Austin’s growth. Last fall, a five-level rental car facility opened up. By opening up the facility, ABIA cleared 900 parking spaces previously used for rental cars for the traveling public.

In July, the airport opened a new passenger screening checkpoint. That expanded the number of lanes from four to six.

The Austin airport is expected to have its busiest summer yet. Airport officials says the airport’s single-month record of 1,165,811 passengers, set in July 2015, is likely to be broken this summer.