In what's shaping up to be a record-shattering holiday hustle, Austin-Bergstrom International Airport is swimming in a sea of travelers, with an anticipated year-end passenger tally tipping the scales at a whopping 22 million, as reported by FOX 7 Austin. This staggering stat reveals almost a million more souls taking to the skies compared to the previous year, a testament to the burgeoning draw of the Lone Star Capital's sky hub.
The holiday helter-skelter spanned from Nov. 17 to Nov. 27, with the airport witnessing a deluge of passengers determined not to miss their Turkey Day feasts or Black Friday deals. Chatter amongst the crowds bore tales of jam-packed jets and frayed nerves. "Just that airplane alone, it was the fullest flight that we had out of this weekend, and it felt like it was overflowing; it was overwhelming," traveler Ava Lacy told FOX 7 Austin.
Anticipating the surge, the airport had arm-twisted travelers carve out a generous time slice ahead of their flights—two and a half hours for those bound domestically and a full three hours for international voyages—to beat the TSA screening scrimmage. Mr. Aaron Lacy, another journeyer, recounted his experience to FOX 7 Austin, "We did two-and-a-half every location we went," he said. "The timing was good, we were pushing it a little close 'cause of the TSA when we were departing Seattle."
Moreover, amidst the tumult, Austin's airport doled out pro tips for the passage—consider utilizing the arrivals zone for a snappier curbside goodbye, and check parking before you pivot your wagon towards the terminal. "We flew out at 5:00 in the morning, so getting somewhere at 2:30 or 3:00, there is not much traffic, so we didn’t have to worry about traffic too much," Aaron Lacy elaborated to FOX 7 Austin. His parting shot, though, was a familiar refrain in the travel tapestry: pack your patience.
Numbers crunched by KXAN provided a peek into the passenger patterns at AUS during this festival of flights. From Nov. 16 through Nov. 27, the footfall flirted with dizzying heights, including a tally of 37,792 on Nov. 17, and after a Thanksgiving breather of 14,944, the traffic thickened once more, reaching a projected crescendo of 35,000 on Nov. 26.
