These Will Be the Busiest U.S. Airports for Holiday Travel
Earlier this week, the AAA predicted that airports will be busier than ever this holiday season, with an estimated 115.2 million Americans making travel arrangements. Airfare tracking site Hopper has released a list of airports (via Forbes) they predict will be most busy. The outlet reported that travel is up significantly from this time last year: 24.5 million passengers will take off from American airports between December 21–27, an 11 percent increase from 2022.
Hopper estimates that the busiest airport this holiday season will be Atlanta’s Harstfield-Jackson International, with 1.4 people predicted to pass through its gates during the week of Christmas. Denver International, as well as Dallas/Fort Worth in Texas, placed second and third with over 1 million estimated travelers during the frame.
Surprisingly, airports thought of as major hubs didn’t place as prominently on the list. LAX was number four, while Miami and New York’s JFK came in at nine and ten, respectively. All are estimated to see less than 1 million travelers during the holiday.
Below are the top five airports estimated to be the busiest this holiday season. You can find the full list here.
- Hartsfield-Jackson (Atlanta, GA)
- Denver (Denver, CO)
- Dallas/Forth Worth (Dallas, TX)
- LAX (Los Angeles, CA)
- Orlando (Orlando, FL)
Though the company reports the busiest times for most of the airports listed are between 8 am and noon local time, they recommend taking the earliest flight possible to avoid travel delays. “In general, flights departing after 9 am are twice as likely to be delayed than departures scheduled between 5 and 8 am,” Hayley Berg, the company’s lead economist, told Forbes.
While the 115.2 million domestic travelers is a 2.2 percent increase over last year’s numbers, it’s still a marked decrease (3.2 percent) from pre-pandemic figures. In 2019, 119 million Americans traveled during the holidays.