Record breaking holiday travel expected this year

WILMIGNTON, NC (WWAY) — The hustle and bustle of the holiday travel season is here with many people trying to make it home in time for the holidays.  

We talked with a few travelers at Wilmington International Airport Monday. 

Many people are traveling to visit relatives this holiday season. AAA projects 107 million people will travel by car. Which is 2.5 million more people compared to last year.  

TSA projects nearly 40 million passengers will be screened in airports from December 19th to January 2nd.  

Naomi Walker-Garrett and her husband josh are two of the people traveling through Wilmington International Airport for the holidays. They traveled from Denver to Wilmington on Monday and said they had no issues.  

“No, we actually got upgraded exit seats, so I had enough leg room. So that was nice for once. That’s a big deal for him, extra leg room. I think it was fine, there was some construction going on at the Charlotte airport but that didn’t cause any inconvenience for us,” the Garretts shared. 

The Garretts usually travel around Christmas to visit family and say they did notice some differences this year. 

“It’s expensive it feels like it keeps getting more and more expensive for the holidays….It does feel less hectic than the last couple years,” Naomi Walker-Garrett said. 

 “Disney World,” Josh Garrett said.  

 “Yeah,” Naomi said.  

“Then even when we fly to West Virginia we have to fly into Pittsburgh, rent a car, drive an hour and a half. My mom lives like 15 minutes from here, so it has been pretty low key honestly,” Josh Garrett’s said.  

Didier Lefebvre traveled from Toronto to Wilmington to visit his family for the holiday.  

“Everything was wonderful, everybody was professional, there was no delay. No complaint what-so-ever,” Lefebvre exclaimed.  

Lefebvre says he flies often and in spite of the holiday rush things have gone smoothly. 

“I’m an international, I was born in France. So, I need to visit my parents, my brothers, my kids. So, I’m kind of all over the place,” Lefebvre said.  

“Most of the time things are going pretty smoothly. I will say international travel is more difficult, more stressful,” Lefebvre stated. 

Since Christmas day is in the middle of the week this year AAA expects both this past weekend and the weekend after the holiday to break records.