Holiday travel season kicks off at TPA, 1.5 million passengers expected

TAMPA, Fla. – The holiday travel season is now well underway at Tampa International Airport.

Sunday, couches on the third floor were filled with passengers waiting to get to their destination.

“You just got to manage your expectations. Just realize things are going to happen. Things are going to go wrong and it’s all going to be fine,” passenger Jenilee Layer said.

From Dec. 19 through Jan. 6, TPA expects to see an estimated 1.5 million people pass through the terminals. That’s about 80,000 passengers a day, with the busiest day expected to be the day after Christmas with about 87,000 passengers expected.

“I went to Tampa from Frankfurt and from Stockholm, and that went very well. And now I’m going back and there’s a short delay but, I have my friends here, so I’m fine,” passenger Anneli Melander said.

According to AAA, holiday travel saw a slight increase from 2023 with about 3% more people traveling this holiday season compared to last year.

READ: TPA’s largest airside expansion in 2 decades gets off the ground

Travelers at TPA experienced some minor delays and a few cancelations, but no major disruptions as of Sunday.

“Honestly, it’s been really uneventful. I think most people expect it to be kind of chaotic and crazy, but the weather’s been mild, so we didn’t have any delays getting in, no turbulence, nothing. And so far it’s been really pleasant,” Layer said.

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