Charlotte airport braces for Labor Day weekend travel
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Charlotte Douglas International Airport estimates more than a million people will fly through Charlotte this Labor Day weekend.
Why it matters: CLT saw record-breaking passenger traffic this summer amid ongoing construction that has affected everything from ticket counters to transportation.
By the numbers: Starting Thursday, Aug. 29, through Wednesday, Sept. 4, roughly 235,000 local passengers will pass through Transportation Security Administration checkpoints, according to airport officials. That's a 15.8% increase compared to last year.
- CLT expects 1.14 million passengers total during Labor Day weekend travel — a 19% increase over last year.
What we're watching: CLT will begin the next steps in its $608 million terminal lobby expansion (TLE) project after Labor Day weekend.
- Checkpoint C will close starting Sept. 5 for Checkpoint 2 construction. TSA PreCheck will move from Checkpoint C to Checkpoint A.
- Checkpoint E will become Checkpoint 3. The airport will have three checkpoints once the TLE project is complete, with updated technology to get passengers through security faster. Checkpoint 1 opened last fall.
- Eleven of American Airlines' 24 new ticket counters will open and the rest are expected to open in October. You'll find the new counters in the center of the terminal lobby between doors 2 and 3.
Zoom out: Other airport projects like the skybridges and a new airport overlook were completed this summer.
Go deeper: Charlotte Douglas International Airport: Hours of operation