Miami International Hit Record Numbers In December
MIAMI (CBSMiami) - Airport officials at Miami International knew they were going to be busy during the Christmas and New Years holidays.
They just didn't know how busy.
From December 21st through January 6th, more than 2.1 million travelers passed through the airport - an increase of 3.6 percent over the same period last year.
The surge at MIA exceeded national projections by airline industry trade organization Airlines for America (www.airlines.org) and auto group AAA, which predicted a nation-wide increase of two percent and a decrease of 1.4 percent, respectively.
"It is extremely rewarding to see MIA surpass national projections during the holidays and serve a growing number of visitors to our community. As the top gateway and economic engine for Miami-Dade County, this is fantastic news," said Miami-Dade County Mayor Carlos Gimenez in a statement.
MIA averaged nearly 126,000 passengers during the 17-day period, far exceeding its typical weekday average of 105,000 and its weekend day average of 113,000. MIA set a new single-day passenger record of 139,941 on December 21, only to break that record two weeks later with 144,192 passengers on January 4.
The strong holiday travel numbers helped MIA reach a new milestone of 40 million annual passengers on December 27th.
