Austin airport anticipates 33,000 passengers Friday ahead of Memorial Day weekend
Traveling to or from Austin on Memorial Day weekend? Austin-Bergstrom International Airport officials recommend arriving to the airport well in advance of your flight.
About 33,000 passengers are projected to pass through the doors at Austin-Bergstrom on Friday, airport spokesperson Sam Haynes said. A typical day can see between 28,000 and 30,000 people, she said.
The airport categorizes anything above 30,000 people as busy, 35,000 as very busy and 37,000 as record-breaking busy.
A total of 215,000 people passed through the Austin airport over Memorial Day weekend last year.
Domestic travelers should arrive at least 2.5 hours prior to their flights, and international passengers should arrive three hours prior, Haynes said. Passengers returning rental cars or checking luggage are encouraged to arrive even earlier to allow enough time for unexpected lines.
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AAA expects 3.6 million travelers in Texas over the Memorial Day holiday, a 4.2% increase from last year, with 43.8 million people expected to travel nationally for the holiday.
Passengers at the main terminal will have to shuffle through one of three checkpoints, potentially making security lines longer. The airport recently announcement it has consolidated TSA Precheck and CLEAR, the two fast-track security screening options offered, after closing Checkpoint 3 in February. It's slated to reopen in 2026 with six to eight new lanes, as part of a $241.5 million renovation of the Barbara Jordan Terminal.
About 2 million passengers in May 2022 and 2023, respectively, helped inch the airport toward achieving record-setting monthly passenger numbers, according to the airport's publicly available data. More than 43,000 people removed their shoes and belts on Oct. 23, 2023, the airport's record busiest day, a day after Austin's annual Formula One race.
This article originally appeared on Austin American-Statesman: Austin airport could see 33K passengers ahead of Memorial Day weekend