The Houston Airport system expects to set record numbers for summer travel since before the pandemic this holiday weekend.
Melissa Correa is a public information officer for Houston Airports. She said while the official numbers aren't out yet, projections for summer travel so far are looking positive.
"We're expecting to break a new summer travel record from Memorial Day to Labor Day," she said.
Correa said because the airports will be busier than usual, she recommends travelers arrive a lot earlier as well.
"More people means more people in TSA security, more people checking bags," she said.
She also suggested those with flights planned need to reserve parking at least six hours before arriving at the airport.
Friday will be the busiest day for this weekend according to the system's projections. Both Bush Intercontinental and Hobby Airport are expected to see over 830,000 passengers collectively over the weekend.
Correa said she feels people are looking to get out there after the past few years.
"More than 20 percent of the passengers moving through Houston's airports are gonna be traveling internationally. I think the fact that there is a COVID-19 vaccine has helped consumers and travelers regain that confidence in air travel," she said.
According to the system's data, this summer will see 14% more passengers than last summer and 5% more than 2019, before the pandemic. 2019 also held the previous summer travel record for Houston Airports. Summer travel records have been monitored since 2017.
Correa says data from the TSA, numbers that come from airline partners, among other things help predict these numbers.
