ST. LOUIS — The number of passengers who passed through St. Louis Lambert International Airport security checkpoints during the 11 days surrounding Thanksgiving was down 9.1% from 2019, according to Transportation Security Administration figures provided by airport officials.
The TSA figures don't reflect connecting passenger numbers, only those entering security checkpoints.
Lambert officials had said at the beginning of the period – from Friday, Nov. 19, through Monday, Nov. 29 – that passenger totals were projected to be down 13.5% from 2019's pre-pandemic counts.
During this year's 11-day Thanksgiving period, over 180,000 travelers were screened at security checkpoints, compared with 198,649 passengers who cleared security in 2019 and only 82,099 in the 2020 period.
The busiest travel day this year occurred Sunday, Nov. 28, with 20,571 individuals. The last time the TSA screened more than that passenger count was Dec, 27, 2019, with 20,855 travelers passing through the checkpoints, officials said.
“We saw a lot of travelers over the past 11 days, much like pre-pandemic times,” Airport Director Rhonda Hamm-Niebruegge said Tuesday in a statement. “We are hoping this trend continues as we near the holiday season and into the New Year."
Click here for the full story from the St. Louis Business Journal.