Airport officials offer advice for busy holiday travel

The Columbus Regional Airport Authority is rolling out a handful of changes and offering advice to flyers as the busy holiday season approaches.

Air travel spikes in the weeks encompassing Christmas and New Year’s Day, which means long lines and delays, and holiday flights are slowly approaching pre-pandemic levels.

More than 236,000 flights are scheduled between Dec. 16 and Jan. 3, which is roughly 86% of the flights from the same time in 2019, according to airport figures.

Some of the changes are designed to get travelers on a plane in a timely fashion.

The John Glenn Columbus International

Airport now uses the CLEAR verification system, which identifies passengers through a retina scan. Flyers who subscribe to CLEAR are escorted directly to security screening after signing into the system, an airport authority news release said.

The airport authority recommends

arriving at least two hours ahead of domestic flights and three hours ahead of international flights, and downloading a mobile boarding pass to expedite the boarding process.

Flyers can keep track of delays and cancellations online.

Shuttles leave for the parking lots from the terminal every 15 to 18 minutes.

Liquids can only be brought on board the plane in containers smaller than 3.4 ounces. The only exception is liquid hand sanitizer, which can be brought on the plane in containers of up to 12 ounces.

The TSA keeps a list of permitted foods on its website.

To reduce waste, the airport authority recommends bringing an empty bottle and filling it with water after traversing security.

Passengers should make sure their bag is empty when they start packing to avoid accidentally bringing prohibited items, the release said.

In an effort to combat the omicron variant of the coronavirus, the TSA extended a mask requirement for all passengers until March 22, which means masks are required on airport shuttle buses, inside the airport itself and on flights.

John Glenn recently expanded its soundtrack through a partnership with CD 92.9, an independently owned alternative rock station in Columbus. John Glenn added thousands of songs from a range of artists and genres, the news release said. pcooley@dispatch.com @Patrickacooley