CHARLOTTE, N.C. (QUEEN CITY NEWS) — It’s that time of the year again, the busy period for traveling the roadways and airways.
Record travel is expected over the Thanksgiving holiday. Industry experts say U.S. airlines will fly nearly 30 million travelers over the 12-day travel period. They project about 2.7 million passengers flying each day — a 9 percent increase from 2022.
“I knew it was going to be packed because it’s always crazy in the Charlotte airport,” said local traveler Naved Thalik. He’s headed to Timbuktu.
Thalik says this is the best time to travel because his ticket to west Africa is significantly lower than average. It’s also a time to wait, something the Kobylarz family anticipated.
“We got to the airport like extra early because we were concerned about there being a lot of congestion, but it was actually pretty smooth,” said Rebecca Kobylarz.
Charlotte Douglas managers are projecting a 14 percent increase in passengers over the Thanksgiving period — closing in on 1 million flying through CLT.
“Detroit, there were not that many people,” said Aiden Kobylarz. “But in Charlotte. Oh, my gosh. We came in and there were just people lined up along the walls.”
Federal regulators have merry news for air travelers. Flight cancellations are trending lower in 2023 than in previous years mainly because this year’s weather has been better than 2022.
Travis Tyler prepared for the worst on his flight from Japan. But the weather was nice overseas and to his surprise, his flight landed an hour early.
“I’m about to walk outside of the car rental place,” Tyler said. “So I saw some long lines in there, but I was anticipating long lines, but I planned for it. So no issue for me.”
