Travelers arrive at Miami International Airport (MIA) ahead of the long holiday week-end of Memorial Day in Miami on May 26, 2021. – Global air passenger numbers could rebound from the coronavirus pandemic to top 2019 levels by 2023, the International Air Transport Association predicted on Wednesday. (Photo by CHANDAN KHANNA / AFP) (Photo by CHANDAN KHANNA/AFP via Getty Images)
MIAMI (CBSMiami/AP) — Miami International Airport is projecting the “busiest Memorial Day weekend ever.”
According to a release Monday, passenger traffic at the airport was up 17% over the last 30 days, compared to the same period before the pandemic hit in 2020. The airport is currently averaging 150,000 passengers a day compared to 126,000 daily in 2019, which was a previous all-time high.
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Similar growth in tourism is being seen statewide in Florida, which never had mandatory statewide mask mandates and was primarily open for businesses throughout the pandemic, even when the state was getting battered by the delta wave that killed thousands of Floridians last summer. During news conferences, Republican Gov. Ron DeSantis frequently notes how businesses were open despite COVID-19 in the “free state of Florida.”
Figures released earlier this year by Visit Florida, the state’s tourism promotion agency, showed that tourism statewide is now slightly surpassing numbers from before the pandemic. In the first quarter of this year, Florida had 35.9 million visitors, a 1.3% increase over the same quarter in 2019.
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The 35.9 million visitors from January through March represented an almost 40% jump compared to the same quarter last year, according to Visit Florida.
Back in Miami, airport officials expect parking garages to fill to capacity starting Thursday. They note that passengers should plan on being dropped off at the airport by friends or family, a ride-hailing service, or a taxi.
Officials are also suggested that travelers arrive at the airport three hours early for domestic flights and three and a half hours early for international travel to have plenty of time to pass through the check-in and security checkpoint process.
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(© Copyright 2022 CBS Broadcasting Inc. All Rights Reserved. The Associated Press contributed to this report.)
