South Florida's international airports expecting major increase in Memorial Day weekend travel
MIAMI – Memorial Day weekend is here, and our roadways and airports are going to be packed with people. AAA is predicting a 28% increase in air travel this holiday weekend.
Friday through Monday, Miami International is expecting more than 600,000 travelers in and out of the airport.
"Our growth has been unprecedented," says Jack Varela, a spokesperson for Miami International Airport.
"We got here super early because we saw on the news this morning that it's going to be super busy," says Janine Daly, a traveler from London.
There's definitely no lack of travelers Thursday, but a spokesperson for the airport says this is the calm before the storm.
"We're expecting 150,000 passengers a day. The parking garages for example are filling up very fast," says Varela.
Varela says lately, their garages are nearly at max capacity. He says some people who couldn't find parking were forced to go back home, drop off their cars and call a ride share.
"The biggest advice I could give passengers is to take a ride share. Uber or Lyft to the airport," he says.
At Fort Lauderdale International Airport, they're expecting nearly 700,000 travelers within the week surrounding Memorial Day.
Meanwhile, on our roadways, AAA says gas prices are 50% more expensive than they were a year ago.
"They're expected to be the highest for any Memorial Day on record," says AAA spokesperson Mark Jenkins.
Surprisingly enough, Jenkins says the prices aren't deterring people.
"We're expecting people to begrudgingly pay those higher prices because of this resurgence in travel. I mean we're talking about two years of built-up demand that is being unleashed this summer," he explains.
Miami International Airport is encouraging everyone to arrive three hours for domestic flights and three and a half hours early for international trips.