Travel experts are expecting record numbers for the Thanksgiving and Christmas travel season, and officials at Wichita’s Eisenhower National Airport are getting ready for a busy travel period.
The airport’s air service and business development manager, Valerie Wise, said the Thanksgiving travel season begins on Tuesday, November 26th and runs through Monday, December 2nd. She said this is expected to be the busiest travel season ever, with the number of passengers increasing six and a half percent over last year. The busiest days will be November 26th (38 departures and 3,553 seats), November 30th (39 departures and almost 3,700 seats), and December 1st (41 departures and almost 3,700 seats). Travel for the Christmas holiday will be more spread out, and the busiest day is expected to be December 19th.
Travelers are urged to get to the airport at least two hours before their flight’s departure time, to allow for time to park, check in baggage and go through security screening. The TSA checkpoint opens at 3:30 a.m. and its busiest times will be from 4 to 7 a.m. and from 9 a.m. to 1 p.m. Travelers should be at their gate at least 30 minutes before departure, because the airlines will close the door to the aircraft 10 minutes before departure. If there’s a delay for the last flight of the day, travelers should remain on the concourse. Travelers should download the app for their airline to get up-to-date flight information.
Allegiant Air will begin operating non-stop flights to Orlando Sanford International Airport starting November 23rd and continuing through January 5th, and there will be two flights a week.
Wise said the parking garage at the airport has been full this year, and travelers are recommended to use the Park and Ride lot, which is $8 a day. People who are picking up arriving passengers at the airport should not park and wait in front of the terminal. They should use the Short Term lot, which is free for the first hour, or the cell phone lot.
The Transportation Security Administration is reminding travelers of the items that are not allowed on flights, including tools, pocket knives, drill bits, any self-defense items. Travelers are urged to double check their bags to know what is inside. Liquids should be in bottles or containers no larger than 3.4 ounces. For Thanksgiving foods, anything that can be spread, sprayed, pumped or poured will not be allowed through security, and they will have to be checked. More information is available at tsa.gov
TSA screening manager Erin Crowley said there will be new technology to check IDs in the screening area. It will involve taking a photo of the traveler to compare to the ID. She said this is optional so a passenger who is not comfortable with having the picture taken can opt out and the screener will check the ID.
AAA is expecting nearly 80 million Americans to travel for the Thanksgiving holiday, with 71.7 million traveling by car and 5.84 million people traveling domestically by air. The air travel is expected to be up two percent from a year ago.
