Busy travel day Friday at MSP Airport ahead of holiday weekend

At Minneapolis-International Airport, Friday was expected to be one of the busiest days of the Fourth of July holiday weekend.

The Metropolitan Airports Commission (MAC) expects more than 27,000 passengers to go through TSA checkpoints at the airport Friday.

This is just the latest in what’s been an uptick in travel recently.

AAA forecasts that more than 47 million people will travel by car or plane this weekend in the U.S., a return to 2019 levels and 40% higher than last year. That includes 3.5 million airline passengers.

In early June, more than 30,000 passengers were screened in a single day for the first time since the start of the pandemic.

Meanwhile, passenger boardings in May were at 62% of pre-pandemic levels.

The MAC reported Saturday and Sunday are expected to be the least busy travel days at MSP Airport this weekend and upcoming week.

The Associated Press contributed to this report.