Albuquerque Sunport anticipates most holiday travel in years

ALBUQUERQUE, N.M. — Thanksgiving is Thursday but airports around the U.S., including our Sunport, are seeing their time to shine before and after the holiday.

Sunport officials say the day before Thanksgiving is the second-busiest day of travel, right behind the Sunday after Thanksgiving. They anticipate 18,000 people will pass through the Sunport on Wednesday.

“We see big passenger increases this Thanksgiving travel period. We anticipate seeing around 160,000 total passengers through the Sunport, which would be 20% higher than last year and 5% higher than 2019,” said Diana Lopez, a Sunport spokesperson.

With more traffic, there’s more of a potential for delays. Officials recommend building more time into your schedule so you don’t run into trouble.

“We recommend arriving two hours before your flight, as well as taking advantage of self-service kiosks, airline apps and things like TSA Pre-Check,” Lopez said.

Officials also recommend keeping loose items (e.g., keys, ID) in a pocket so they’re easy to get in and out when going through security.

You can read more on the TSA where they have a full travel checklist and other tips listed.