ROANOKE, Va. – This year’s travel numbers are expected to hit an all-time high. According to AAA, this Memorial Day weekend could be the busiest at airports since 2005.
Roanoke-Blacksburg Regional Airport says their busiest travel days are on Thursday, Friday, and then again on Monday. On Thursday, there are 29 flights expected to depart from the airport. Nine of those are to Charlotte, five to Atlanta, and four each to Chicago and Dulles. On Friday, ROA is expecting 20 departing and arriving flights.
Alexa Briehl, a spokesperson for Roanoke-Blacksburg Regional Airport said, “On any given day, we serve about 1,000 to 1,500 departing customers. We are going to be on the high end of that spectrum. So you will see these halls very busy.”
TSA says they are expecting 10 million people to fly across the country over the extended Memorial Day weekend. That is up 11% from last year.
Briehl says she recommends that travelers arrive even earlier.
“We recommend about two hours early,” she said. “That way you can find your parking spot, check a bag if needed, come on in get through security and maybe even have time for a smoothie or a coffee.”
With the busy travel weekend, it is always important to have a Plan B. It is not always easy to switch flights last minute, so ROA recommends an alternative plan for how to get to your destination.