Charleston International Airport expects Wednesday to be the busiest for Thanksgiving travel

CHARLESTON COUNTY, S.C. (WCBD) – With the Thanksgiving holiday only days away, it begins one of the busiest travel times at the Charleston International Airport.

Airport officials say that the trend of growth they’ve seen throughout the past years will continue as the busy season of holiday travel continues, still, News 2 has some things you can do to have a smooth travel experience.

One thing to keep in mind, airport officials expect the Wednesday before Thanksgiving and the Sunday after Thanksgiving to be the busiest. They say in 2022 there was a 9% increase in overall travelers for Thanksgiving; this year the airport is projecting a 10% or 12% increase.

If you’re heading to the airport this week, experts suggest leaving for the airport at least 90 minutes before your flight departs. Give yourself enough time to find parking, check your bag, and get through TSA.

Plus, if you want to make sure you are bringing TSA-approved items in your carry-on, there’s a full list of what you can bring through security on the TSA website

Ahead of this busy week of travel, News 2 heard from the Deputy Executive Director and Chief Communications Officer for the airport, Spencer Pryor, who says there are helpful tools at the airport to make the travel process more efficient.

“One of the things we want to stress that we have this year in our daily parking garage, we have our check-and-go baggage service. A lot of folks don’t know that they can actually check, if they’re on a domestic flight, they can check their luggage at the daily parking garage, and then they can head right here to the terminal,” said Pryor.

Travelers can also do the check-and-go bag check service by curbs outside the airport as well.

Travelers should always check the flight status with their air carriers or on the airport’s website.