Cincinnati airport gears up for Thanksgiving travel boom

HEBRON, Ky. — The Cincinnati/Northern Kentucky International Airport is anticipating its busiest Thanksgiving travel week in years.

Cassie Kiser, CVG spokesperson, said the rush is coming with the holiday just a week away. 

“CVG is expecting more than 210,000 passengers this Thanksgiving week,” she said. “That is about a 4% increase over last year.” 

The time frame for Thanksgiving Week is Sunday, Nov. 24 through Sunday, Dec. 1, with the Wednesday before Thanksgiving (Nov. 27) and the Sunday after (Dec. 1) being the busiest days. Though with more flexible work schedules, more people are traveling on the Tuesday before and Monday after, according to AAA.

Kara Hitchens, AAA public affairs manager, said that increase in travel extends all over the U.S.

“This is a record-breaking year,” Hitchens said. “We’ve heard from AAA National that nearly 80 million people will be traveling. Here in Ohio, 3.2 million people will be traveling, and nearly 3 million of those folks will be driving to their destination.” 

People are wanting to scratch that travel itch after not doing so in previous years, she added. 

“People are still coming off of COVID, still ready to get out there and travel, if they haven’t done it or kind of get back to the normal part of traveling that they’ve always done,” Hitchens said.

CVG recommended passengers check with their airline in advance for the latest flight status information. They should arrive at the airport two hours early for domestic flights and three hours for international flights. They should also check Transportation Security Administration guidelines to see what they can and can’t bring.

Travelers chose CVG as a top-three airport in an AAA survey. 

“CVG has strong relationships with our airlines, with TSA and our concessioners,” Kiser said. “And we start communicating well in advance in order to make sure that everybody is staffed appropriately.” 

AAA said people who are traveling should pause their mail and newspaper delivery and set up timers for things like alarms to ward off potential thieves who would otherwise pick up on the fact they’re not home.

CVG said the busiest time for departures is expected to be between 6 a.m. and 8 a.m., with arrivals remaining steady from mid-morning through 11 p.m.