Memorial Day weekend is shaping up to be one of the busiest in recent memory for airports across the country.
AAA reports 3.4 million of the 42.3 million Americans traveling over the holiday weekend will do so by flying to their destinations, an 11 percent increase compared to last year's Memorial Day weekend.
Metropolitan Airports Commissioner (MAC) spokesperson Jeff Lea says travel is up at minimum 10 percent this holiday weekend at MSP compared to one year ago.
"There still is a lot of pent-up demand to travel," Lee said. "I think the farther we get out from the beginning of the pandemic and as things have stabilized, more and more people are travelling."
In fact, AAA reports travel over the holiday weekend is projected to exceed pre-pandemic levels, with 170,000 more passengers than in 2019 setting up for what could be the busiest Memorial Day weekend for airports since 2005.
The influx comes with a reminder for travelers taking to the sky.
"The big thing for passengers is just remembering that there are going to be peak times throughout the summer like early mornings, weekends, and that type of thing where it's going to be busy in our lobbies. Make sure you plan ahead and budget your time to be able to accommodate all the processes from the time you get to the airport to get to the gate to make sure you have a good experience."
Lea added Friday that MAC launched a free 90 day pilot program at MSP's Terminal 2 called MSP Reserve. The program lets passengers book a time window to go through security.
"It's available for anyone flying through terminal two between 3:45 a.m. to 8 a.m. which is that peak morning time where we really have a lot of demand at our checkpoints," added Lea.
Passengers must register for MSP Reserve seven days before their flight or when they arrive at the ticketing level of Terminal 2.
