BLOUNTVILLE, Tenn. (WJHL) – Tri-Cities Airport (TRI) is preparing for one of the busiest times of the year.
Trevor Rice, TRI’s director of air marketing and service development, told News Channel 11 Monday that July is seeing a surge in travel.
“This is one of our busiest months of the year,” Rice said. “And if you add in the Fourth of July holiday, it adds to that. So we encourage passengers to show up early, about two hours before their scheduled departure time, and check their airline apps and websites to make sure that their flight status is on time and that you can kind of plan your travel accordingly.”
Rice stressed that it is important to arrive early before summer flights, especially those in the days leading up to the Fourth of July.
“We typically tend to see higher passenger numbers or higher passenger counts the days leading up to July 4 and then also the days after, so toward Saturday and Sunday,” Rice said.
Although the airport is expecting higher passenger volumes, Rice said people hoping to fly out of TRI should have no trouble finding seats.
“People shouldn’t have a hard time finding available seats,” he said. “July is actually the second busiest month for us throughout the year, after October. So, capacity-wise, we have about 27,000 seats in the market. So there should be plenty of availability for people looking to plan their last-minute trips.”
Rice also encouraged travelers to check the TSA website before arriving at the airport to make sure they have packed their belongings accordingly and will have an easier time getting through security.
