Get ready for a busy holiday travel season around the Twin Cities
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A Sun Country Airlines plane at MSP in 2022. Photo: David Joles/Star Tribune via Getty Images
Brace yourself for busy airports and highways during the Christmas and New Year's holiday travel period.
Driving the news: Thursday and Friday before Christmas will be the busiest travel days at Minneapolis-St. Paul International Airport, according to a new forecast from officials.
- MSP expects more than 36,000 passengers to move through on Friday. Airport officials project a similar bump in activity leading up to New Year's Day.
State of play: The forecast rounds off a year when the U.S. set travel records around the July Fourth and Thanksgiving holidays.
- Overall, MSP is wrapping up a "strong year in travel," according to Metropolitan Airports Commission CEO Brian Ryks, with passenger counts trending near 90% of their 2019 levels.
- MSP set a post-pandemic daily travel record on Oct. 19, with more than 50,000 MEA-break travelers clearing security that day.
Zoom out: Nationwide, more travelers are likely to hit the road or the skies compared to last year. AAA recently forecasted that 115.2 million people will be driving or flying during the 10-day holiday travel period that begins Dec. 23 — a 2.2% increase from 2022 numbers.
- "Airports are expected to be the busiest they've ever been over the Christmas and New Year's travel period," AAA said in a statement.
Be smart: If you're flying, be sure to bookmark our MSP tips and dining guide.
- If you're boarding at Terminal 2, MSP lets you reserve a spot in the security line for free — though appointments are limited.
Zoom in: For people hopping on the road, prepare for a few days of "potentially bad traffic," according to INRIX, a provider of transportation data and insights.
- INRIX transportation analyst Bob Pishue listed the Twin Cities among the major metro areas that could see nearly double the typical delays over the holidays.
- The company lists the biggest trouble spot in our region as I-94 West from Eau Claire to Minneapolis, where analysts expect congestion to peak at 10:15am on Dec. 28.
Flashback: Last year, flight delays and cancellations wreaked havoc on holiday travel with the major winter storm and the Southwest Airlines meltdown.
- This year, the weather forecast in our region — at least through Christmas Day — looks mild with a bit of rain and light snow expected.