ST. LOUIS (KMOX) - Next week begins what should be the busiest time of the year for St. Louis Lambert International Airport, but with COVID-19 on the rise here and around the country, officials aren't sure exactly what to expect.
Last year 44,000 travelers passed through Lambert on peak days during the holidays, which Airport Director Rhonda Hamm-Niebruegge says was a good year. This time, she's hoping for half-that. "I still think there's a great desire by people to be together for the holidays, with family and/or friends," she says. "Because of the separation that many of us have had for months on end now, I think there is a desire and urge for people. So, I think they'll go to great links to be safe, but to try and make those (trips)."
Hamm-Niebruegge says the airport is taking several steps to keep passengers safe, including social distancing, deep cleaning and a strictly enforced mask mandate. "If you're coming in the airport, whether you're traveling or picking up someone, you must have your mask on," she says. "We enforce that very heavily. We do have officers out every day working on that. We will still get calls periodically that someone's reporting that they're seeing a person without a mask and, obviously, we respond immediately."
As the pandemic has reduced passenger traffic at Lambert, the airport has closed some of its restaurants, bars and other amenities. Hamm-Niebruegge says they will open more of them, if traffic warrants. "Every concourse has sit-down restaurants open and available," she says. "Every concourse has the coffee shops, whether it's Starbucks or Duncan, open and available, we know people can't do without their coffee." She says most of the Hudson News and Gift shops are open, but some specialty stores are not.
As to when travelers should arrive at the airport for their flights, Hamm-Niebruegge suggests 90 minutes, especially since they don't want too many people just hanging out at the airport during the pandemic.
