Christmas air travel set for record high
Christmas holiday travel will be close to the pre-pandemic levels of 2019.
AAA expects 115.2 million people will take a trip or return home for the holidays during the 10 days between December 23 and New Year’s Day.
That is up just over 2% up on last year.
“Desire to get away is stronger than we have seen in a very long time,” said AAA spokesperson Aixa Diaz.
“People are willing to adjust their budgets in other areas of their life, but they want to keep traveling.”
This is still just short of 2019 levels by about 3%.
Overall travel has fully rebounded and reached or overtaken 2019 levels.
This is true for air travel, with passenger screening up nearly 2% on 2019.
The Thanksgiving Day holiday saw a single-day record of 2.9 million passengers on Sunday, November 26.
Trade group Airlines for America predicts that 39 million people will fly between December 20 and January 2.
It expects the busiest peak days could see over three million air travelers for the first time.
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