LITTLE ROCK, Ark. — Are you and your family planning on traveling for Memorial Day? If so, be prepared for a busy day at the airport— passengers have been asked to arrive two hours early.
The Bill and Hillary Clinton National Airport has been working to prepare for an influx of holiday travelers ahead of Memorial Day.
According to the Transportation Security Administration (TSA), 26,199 passengers are expected to fly out of the state’s largest airport from Thursday, May 25 through Wednesday, May 31.
The busiest day for Little Rock is projected to be Thursday, May 25 with 4,484 passengers departing.
“Passengers are advised to arrive at the airport two hours before departure time”, said Shane Carter, director of public affairs and governmental relations, at Clinton National Airport. “We continue to have passengers show up 15 to 30 minutes before their departure time, which is a guaranteed way to miss a flight.”
TSA has prepared to screen high volumes of passengers at security checkpoints nationwide as the summer travel season kicks off this weekend.
The agency reported that Friday, May 26 will be the busiest travel day of the long weekend nationwide with approximately 2.6 million passengers expected to be screened.
Teenagers aged 13-17 may now accompany TSA PreCheck enrolled parents or guardians through PreCheck screening when traveling on the same reservation and when the PreCheck indicator appears on the teen’s boarding pass.
Children 12 and under may still accompany an enrolled parent or guardian when traveling through TSA PreCheck lanes anytime without restrictions.
Passengers can choose to enroll in PreCheck at Clinton National Airport’s enrollment center, located inside the airport.
Clinton National is at 97% of pre-pandemic passenger levels for the holiday weekend. According to official reports, 27,061 passengers flew out of Little Rock in 2019.