Florida airports expected to set records during holidays – WFTV

ORLANDO, Fla. — (AP) — The vacation journey season this 12 months is expected to rival the busiest seasons earlier than the pandemic at Florida’s two most bustling airports, which is able to see hundreds of thousands of vacationers passing by means of them, officers stated.

Orlando International Airport, the state’s busiest airport and the seventh busiest airport within the U.S. final 12 months, is expected to host 2.9 million passengers during a interval that began in mid-December and extends by means of the primary few days of the brand new 12 months. That would mark a 17% enhance over the identical interval final 12 months when 2.5 million vacationers handed by means of the airport.

Miami International Airport is expected to host 2.5 million passengers for a vacation journey interval that lasts from Dec. 21 by means of Jan. 6, which is Three Kings’ Day, the ultimate Christmas celebration noticed by many Christians in Latin America and Spain. That would mark a 1.5% enhance over the record-breaking vacation journey season final 12 months.

The busiest journey day on the Orlando airport is expected to be the day after New Year’s Day, with an estimated 162,000 vacationers arriving at and departing the airport.

At the Miami airport, the busiest journey days are expected to be Wednesday, Thursday and Friday of this week, the Friday earlier than New Year’s Day and the Thursday and Friday after New Year’s Day. On these days, an estimated 157,000 vacationers are expected to move by means of the airport every day, airport officers stated.

Fort Lauderdale-Hollywood International Airport was anticipating nearly 1.6 million passengers over two weeks beginning Wednesday. If that estimate holds, it will likely be 13% busier than final 12 months’s journey quantity however wanting the pre-pandemic 1.8 million passengers who traveled during the identical interval in 2019.

During the vacation season, AAA expected 6.3 million Floridians to journey 50 miles or extra from house, with the majority of vacationers getting round by automobile. About 5.8 million Floridians have been planning to hit the highway by automobile, a 3% enhance over final 12 months, in accordance to AAA.

Florida’s ports additionally have been expected to be full of vacationers from vacation cruises.

Port Canaveral on Florida’s Space Coast is expected to break one-day cruise records on Christmas Eve and New Year’s Eve this 12 months. Around 52,000 passengers are expected to get on or off 5 cruise ships on Christmas Eve, and 57,000 passengers are expected from six cruise ships on New Year’s Eve.

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