By Elizabeth Behrman, Times Staff Writer
Wednesday, March 14, 2012
Spring break pushes big crowds through Tampa International Airport, so officials are urging travelers to arrive earlier than usual for their flights.
"A lot of people think the day before Thanksgiving is the busiest travel day of the year, but we're actually seeing more people coming through (now) than at Thanksgiving time," said spokeswoman Janet Zink.
Zink said that on March 11, the first day Southwest Airlines added seven flights to accommodate spring break travelers, the airport served almost 54,000 passengers. On the day before Thanksgiving last year, the airport was visited by about 50,000 passengers.
Because of the increase in traffic, Zink said the security lines are a bit longer, so passengers should arrive two hours early for their flights.
The airport has added more personnel at security checkpoints to make the lines move faster. Plenty of parking is still available.
Zink said the spring break season lasts until April 15.
The airport has been seeing a steady influx in passengers lately. In February, the airport served more than 1.3 million passengers, which is 7.2 percent more than in February of last year.
The number of international passengers was up 24 percent compared to February of last year, and domestic traffic was up 6.7 percent.