PEORIA, Ill. – Travel is expected to pick up across the country during the Memorial Day holiday weekend, and Peoria International Airport is no exception.
Director Gene Olson says while this holiday weekend is not as busy as Thanksgiving or Christmas, a lot of people will still go through the gates over the next week.
“We do expect the flights that we have to be more full, and we’re probably going to north of 11,000 people, both arriving and departing passengers over the six day holiday weekend,” Olson said.
Olson says no extra flights are being added due to the holiday, and the schedule remains normal. But airlines will have “all hands on deck” to prepare for the increase in travelers. He says most of the travelers will come in the couple days before Saturday, and when people start coming home on Memorial Day Monday.
Olson says there are a couple things to keep in mind when preparing to travel to the airport and board their flight. He says people should not fall into a trap of thinking that they will get on-board quickly because of PIA’s size.
“We are getting an increasing number of complaints from passengers who do that, and they show up with not enough time to go through the bag checking process or the passenger screening process, and they end up missing their flight,” Olson said.
Olson says travelers should also be aware of construction going on near the airport that could increase the time it takes to get to the PIA. He specifically noted work on the I-474 overpass on Airport Road, and planned nighttime ramp closures due to the work.
Olson says people should arrive two hours ahead of their scheduled departure time to get through screening, saying the screening process ends 45 minutes before departure.
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