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A12 BUSINESS
Monday 21 noveMber 2022
The busiest days to fly during the winter

holidays

By SALLY FRENCH
of NerdWallet
Most weeks of the year, Fri-
days are the busiest days
to fly, and Tuesdays are the
least busy. But during the
holidays, that trend doesn't
necessarily hold true.
In most years, the Sunday
after Thanksgiving is actu-
ally the busiest travel day
for U.S. airports, according
to the Transportation Secu-
rity Administration, which Travelers queue up at the south security checkpoint in Denver
tracks the numbers of pas- International Airport as the Labor Day holiday approaches
sengers screened daily. Tuesday, Aug. 30, 2022, in Denver.
Two days before Christ- Associated Press
mas and one day before — Saturday after. than Thanksgiving crowds
Thanksgiving also tend to — Friday before. given that the holiday falls
draw big airport crowds. — Monday after (Cyber on a different weekday
Here's a breakdown of the Monday). each year and that air
best and worst days to fly — Sunday before. travel patterns are often
during the winter holidays, — Tuesday before. dictated by the workweek.
and how you can strat- — Monday before. But just as the Sunday after
egize schedules to avoid — Saturday before. Thanksgiving tends to draw
crowds and save money. — Tuesday after (Giving huge crowds, the days just
THE BUSIEST DAYS TO FLY Tuesday). after Christmas are wildly
AROUND THANKSGIVING — Friday after (Black Fri- popular. And much like
The Sunday after Thanks- day). how few people travel on
giving is brutal for airport — Wednesday after. Thanksgiving Day itself, rel-
crowds. For every 100 peo- — Thanksgiving Day (least atively few people travel
ple who flew on Thanksgiv- crowded). on Christmas Day or New
ing Day 2021, there were Assuming past trends con- Year's Day.
177 people flying out on tinue in 2022, expect Sun- Here's a look at Christmas
the Sunday after, accord- day, Nov. 27, to be the and the seven calendar
ing to TSA. busiest travel day around dates before and after
That same Sunday was the Thanksgiving, followed over the past three years,
year's single busiest airport by Wednesday, Nov. 23. ranked by most to few-
travel day in both 2019 and Even if you fly out one est average air travelers,
2021 . In 2020, the busiest day ahead of the biggest based on TSA checkpoint
days were largely con- crowds, Saturday, Nov. 26, data:
centrated in January and will also likely be busy. — Dec. 27 (most crowded).
February, before the wide- And this year, crowds will — Dec. 23.
spread impact of COV- likely be bigger than they — Dec. 20.
ID-19, which would reduce were over the past couple — Dec. 26.
holiday travel later in the of years. — Dec. 30.
year. "Thanksgiving travel vol- — Dec. 19.
Here's a look at the days umes are looking similar to — Dec. 29.
surrounding Thanksgiving what we typically saw pre- — Dec. 22.
week over the past three pandemic in 2019," says — Dec 28.
years, ranked in order of Hayley Berg, lead econo- — Dec 21.
most to fewest air travel- mist at travel booking app — Dec. 18.
ers at the TSA's U.S. check- Hopper. — Jan. 1 (New Year's Day).
points: THE BUSIEST DAYS TO FLY — Dec. 24 (Christmas Eve).
— Sunday after Thanksgiv- AROUND CHRISTMAS — Dec. 31 (New Year's
ing (most crowded). Christmas airport crowds Eve).
— Wednesday before. can be trickier to predict — Dec. 25 (Christmas Day)
(least crowded).
The 2022 holiday travel
season will be different be-
cause Hanukkah, which
begins on the 25th of Kislev
in the Hebrew calendar ,
aligns closely with Christ-
mas. While the eight -day
celebration sometimes
happens in November or
early December, it begins
this year on Dec. 18 and
runs through Dec. 26.q