SAN ANTONIO – San Antonio International Airport can best describe its expectations for the summer travel season in one word: busy.
That’s based, in part, on recent trends.
Jacob Tyler, an airport spokesman, the airport completed a full year of consecutive record-breaking crowds in May.
Based on figures from the Transportation Security Administration, the number of travelers shows no signs of slowing down anytime soon.
“TSA is expecting from this Saturday to the Sunday after the Fourth of July to see over 300,000 passengers coming in and out of San Antonio International Airport,” Tyler said.
The expectations already appear to be coming true.
On Thursday morning, lines of passengers waiting to pass through security checkpoints began to stretch farther than usual into the airport terminals.
“Actually, I’m running a little behind, I think. My flight boards at 11:40,” said a woman, who identified herself only as Stephanie B., as she rushed toward the security line.
She was on her way to catch a flight home to Atlanta.
The Bravo family’s vacation, meanwhile, was also getting off to a hasty start.
They drove to the airport on their own, not expecting to find crowds in the parking lot.
“There was no parking,” said Nick Bravo. “We had to go to the back parking and (drive) around a couple of times.”
The family was on their way to Cancun to meet up with other relatives.
Despite the unexpected driving delay, they still made it to their gate in time.
“We go every year and I think this is the busiest it’s been,” Bravo said.
Tyler said, in order to make the journey as pleasant as possible, passengers should allow themselves plenty of time to travel.
“We always recommend to please come two hours before boarding,” he said. “You don’t want to rush it. It’ll be a lot less stressful just to get here earlier.”
Arriving two hours before boarding time applies to domestic flights, Tyler said, “while passengers taking international flights should plan on getting there three hours early.”
If parking a car at the airport or checking in luggage are part of the plans, even more time may be required for passengers to avoid the possibility of missing their flights.
Related Stories:
Copyright 2024 by KSAT – All rights reserved.
