The busiest season of the year is on the horizon at Erie International Airport.
Expect the terminal to be a little busier and check-in and security lines to be a little longer as travelers take flight for the winter holidays — from the Friday before Christmas through Jan. 2.
Last year, the average daily number of travelers at the airport increased by more than 32% during the winter holidays, and that was before airlines serving Erie offered a new destination and additional seats.
The 2024 numbers
An average of 189 travelers flew in or out of Erie daily through the 2024 winter holidays, up from 143 daily through the rest of the year. That’s according to a Luxury Link analysis of Transportation Security Administration data at 360 U.S. airports. Luxury Link is an online booking platform specializing in upscale travel.
Average Thanksgiving passenger numbers were lower than the non-holidays average, at 112 passengers daily from the Friday prior to Thanksgiving through the Monday after.
An American Airlines flight from Charlotte lands at Erie International Airport.
Even so, the strong Christmas season numbers lifted the combined Thanksgiving and winter holidays average to 159 daily travelers, up 11.2% from the number of average daily travelers the rest of the year.
That’s more than double the 5.4% average daily increase in holiday season travelers at airports nationwide.
Looking ahead to 2025 holidays
Expect even more holiday travelers at Erie International Airport this year, said Derek Martin, the airport’s executive director.
Breeze Airways added seasonal Erie-Tampa service in January, and that twice-weekly service resumed in October.
And American Airlines offers more seats aboard a larger aircraft on its daily, early-morning flights between Erie and Charlotte, North Carolina.
From August: American Airlines launches 76-seat jet service between Erie and Charlotte
“This holiday season, we will have more seats daily on American Airlines and have Tampa service in addition to our year-round Orlando service from Breeze Airways,” Martin said.
Contact Valerie Myers at vmyers@gannett.com.
This article originally appeared on Erie Times-News: Erie airport expects holiday traveler numbers to rise from last year