The Austin Airport advises early arrivals as holiday travel remains strong through Monday

Austin, Texas — The holidays mean another period of busy travel for our airports, with three million people nationwide flying for Thanksgiving alone.

While it’s too early for the Austin-Bergstrom International Airport (ABIA) to have an exact count on travelers, last year more than 382,000 people were screened here in the twelve-day period surrounding Thanksgiving. But fortunately for those traveling on the holiday itself, it seems the experience at ABIA was pretty painless.

Katherine Skoglund says she woke up at 4 a.m. to get here to Austin to be with her daughter.

“This time of year is family, it’s all about family,” Skoglund said. “She moved to Austin about three years ago, and we’re anxious to see the town and see the sights.”

The long trip was worth not having to prepare the turkey…

“That is right. I’m not cooking this year.” Skoglund said.

Kathrina Daniels is coming from Brooklyn, New York. It’s not just her first time flying on Thanksgiving.

“And it’s my first time traveling since 2007, so it was not that bad with children as well.” Daniels said.

She’s here to see her sister, who is also getting married.

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“We haven’t seen her since 2016,” Daniels said. “So I’m looking forward to spending some quality time with family, eating good food.”

And while fuel savings platform GasBuddy found 72-percent of drivers are planning to drive at some point over the holidays, the highest numbers since before the pandemic, Jon Ford prefers flying.

“I had to work yesterday, so I came out today,” Ford said. “Little less hectic on Thanksgiving, flying.”

He’s meeting is wife in Austin, where they’re excited to spend time with his son and youngest grandson.

“I enjoy coming out here, a lot to do, except in the summertime,” Ford said. “It’s too hot.”

But whether by car or by plane, when it comes to the holidays, the miles don’t matter for family.

“It’s always a blast spending time with family,” Ford said. “Especially during the holiday time and being that we haven’t seen each other in quite some time, I’m looking forward to creating new memories.”

High travel is expected here through Monday. So the Austin airport asks travelers to give themselves extra time on the road and at the airport, at least 2.5 hours before your flight.