Hundreds of thousands of Kentuckians expected to travel for Memorial Day

LEXINGTON, Ky. (WKYT) – Memorial Day weekend is just around the corner.

Whether you plan to stay home or take a trip, you could be joined by thousands of other Kentuckians leaving the Bluegrass State.

Blue Grass Airport is expecting significant foot traffic this year.

“This Memorial Day weekend, we anticipate to see about a 15-20% increase in passengers. We’ve seen the addition of a couple new routes over the last 12 months,” said Lauren Simmerman, community relations at Blue Grass Airport.

Some of those include non-stop trips to Las Vegas and daily trips to Denver.

Simmerman says to beat the rush at the airport and plan accordingly.

“Give yourself that nice 90 minute cushion, pack your patience, if you can download your airline’s mobile app just to stay in touch with what’s going on with your flight,” said Simmerman.

From the skies to the roads, that rush doesn’t seem to be letting up.

“AAA is actually expecting over 500,000 Kentuckians to travel. That’s about 11 percent of our total population,” shared Lori Weaver Hawkins, AAA of the Bluegrass.

86 percent of that number will be traveling via car, and with that many extra people headed out of town before letting the rubber hit the road, Weaver Hawkins gives us a few things to keep in mind.

“Make sure your vehicle is well maintained before you head out, then you are going to need to be patient. You’re probably going to hit some traffic congestion. Be sure that you don’t become distracted. Those are things you really need to keep top of mind,” said Weaver Hawkins.

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