AIRPORTS BRACING FOR BUSY HOLIDAY
The number of Thanksgiving travelers who fly to their destination is expected to grow by 5 percent this year, leaving South Florida airports bracing for a busy holiday week.
Palm Beach International Airport officials estimate between 160,000 and 170,000 passengers will pass through the terminal’s doors this week. The busiest travel days are expected to be Monday, today and Wednesday, officials said.
At Broward County’s Fort Lauderdale-Hollywood International Airport, Thanksgiving traffic is expected to grow by 13 percent this year.
Roughly 670,000 travelers will pass through the airport during the seven-day period that starts today and ends on Monday, the airport said.
The busiest travel day is expected to be Satur- day, when roughly 110,000 passengers will fly in and out of the airport, officials said.
In all, Thanksgiving travel is expected to grow by 3.3 percent this year — an increase that AAA says is driven by growing consumer confidence.
Helping boost airport traffic: travelers who fly this holiday are expected to pay the lowest fares in five years for round-trip tickets on the top 40 domestic routes, according to AAA’s annual travel forecast released last week.
Just fewer than 4 million U.S. travelers will fly this year, an increase of nearly 5 percent and the largest number since 2007. In Florida, 190,720 are expected to take a flight, 4.5 percent more than last year, AAA said.