May travelers fuel Memphis International Airport’s busiest day in 2019

MEMPHIS, Tenn. (May 29, 2019) – Update: Memorial Day travelers packed MEM on Friday, May 24. Memphis International Airport (MEM) experienced its busiest day of 2019 in terms of the number of people passing through Transportation Security Administration (TSA) checkpoints.

A total of 10,197 people passed through the checkpoints, the highest total of 2019 and the busiest day since March 2008 when MEM still served as a hub. Compared to the same day in 2018, throughput on Friday was up by 15.6%.

Original Release:

MEMPHIS, Tenn. (May 14, 2019) – On May 13, Memphis International Airport (MEM) experienced its busiest day of 2019 in terms of the number of people passing through Transportation Security Administration (TSA) checkpoints. A total of 9,468 people passed through the checkpoints, the highest total of 2019 and the second busiest day since March 2011 when MEM still served as a hub.

The May 13 total represented a 12% increase compared to the same date in 2018. Airport employees are included in the screening numbers and make up about 3-5% of the total. Nonetheless, the traffic continues a very strong passenger growth trend for MEM. Since the end of its hub operations in 2013, MEM’s daily checkpoint throughput has exceeded 9,000 only 10 times. Nine of those 10 days have been in the last year, and three of those days occurred this month.

Summary of the peak TSA checkpoint traffic days since 2013:

1.  11/16/18: 9,487
2.  5/13/19:   9,468
3.  5/6/19:    9,350
4.  11/25/18: 9,295
5.  10/6/17:   9,133
6.  5/10/19:   9,126
7.  10/7/18:   9,068
8.  10/4/18:   9,058
9.  6/22/18:   9,042
10.  3/8/19:    9,037

More than 4.4 million passengers passed through MEM in 2018, an increase of more than 200,000 from 2017 (5.4%) and the fourth straight year of increased passengers. The number of passenger flights increased from 25,806 in 2017 to 26,624 in 2018, an increase of 3.2%. In addition, the number of seats available to MEM passengers increased by 3.4% from 2,689,914 to 2,781,380. Growth has continued in 2019, with March passenger totals experiencing a 9.1% increase compared to March 2018.

With growth trends expected to continue throughout the summer travel season, MEM is providing some travel tips for its passengers:

Arrive early & check with airlines prior to traveling

• MEM is recommending that travelers arrive at the airport at least two hours before their departure time to ensure that they have plenty of time to check luggage and go through the security checkpoint.
• Passengers should check with their airlines to monitor schedules.
• Each airline has different polices and fees for baggage. Check your airline’s website so that you’re familiar with them.
• Airlines rather than the airport are responsible for all aspects of ticketing, scheduling, gate operations and baggage handling. Check with your airline if you have questions about any of these aspects of air travel.

Know what you can and can’t bring through security

• In order to expedite security screening time, passengers should review the Transportation Security Administration’s (TSA’s) list of prohibited items. Firearms in carry-on bags are prohibited by federal law. Check your bags before you arrive at the airport.
• More summer TSA travel tips can be found here.

Parking

• The economy parking area may periodically reach capacity during peak travel days.
• Should this happen, additional signage will be added, and additional parking staff will help direct drivers to available parking spots.
• Drivers who are waiting to pick up arriving passengers can save time by utilizing more than 200 spaces in the airport’s cell phone lot, which is equipped with a flight information board and free Wi-Fi.

Links

• Flight Information
• Parking
• Ground Transportation

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