Christmas music with bells and jingles is once again audible throughout Tampa International Airport.
“We plan for this many months in advance as we do for every busy period at the airport,” said Adam Bouchard, VP of Operations for the airport.
“We are expecting to set records for Christmas, although our busiest time of year is very much spring break.”
Peak travel days, according to airport officials, are the weekends leading up to Christmas and New Year’s Eve, which begin on Friday.
“Our peak days here we expect to see close to 90,000 passengers,” Bouchard explained. “On an average day here, it’s about 60,000 through the airport.”
Given that, the airport said it’s doing less active construction to reduce delays down to only a few minutes.
“With the busier traffic and other potential delays that we may not be able to help you avoid,” said Bouchard. “We want to make sure that people get here early with plenty of time to enjoy the airport.”
In order to assist get ready for peak times, officials said they have staffing up with job fairs over the previous year.
“So those have netted hundreds and hundreds of people over the past year who are here now and fully qualified to serve in their roles,” Bouchard explained. “But we’re always mindful of the holidays to make sure that there’s no gap in staffing.”
The airport advises travellers to reserve parking in advance as well, as almost all 20,000 spaces were reserved for Thanksgiving.