Memorial Day weekend begins with highest number of travelers at US airports since 2019

NEW YORK — With Memorial Day weekend travel underway, U.S. airports recorded the highest number of passengers on Thursday since before the COVID-19 pandemic began.

The Transportation Security Administration said it screened 2,658,057 people at checkpoints across the country on Thursday, the highest daily number since 2019.

Even more passengers could be screened on Friday.

According to AAA, airports could see the busiest Memorial Day weekend since 2005.

Nearly 3.4 million people are expected to take to the skies over the holiday, up 11% from 2022 and 5.4% from 2019, according to AAA.

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