ST. LOUIS — Last week, St. Louis Lambert International Airport saw its highest outgoing passenger volume since before the COVID-19 pandemic began.
The airport reported Tuesday that for the week of March 13-19, the TSA at Lambert recorded more than 120,000 outgoing passengers. That is the highest amount of passengers Lambert has reported since it started recording those numbers when the pandemic began in March 2020. That number doesn't include incoming passengers.
The last four days of last week saw a total of 77,000 passengers go through TSA checkpoints at Lambert, which exceeded numbers during the same time in 2019 before the pandemic.
On March 21, the TSA recorded more than 2.1 million travelers nationwide. The number was far above that same day in 2020, which saw more than 300,000, but still under the 2.4 million passengers recorded that day in 2019.
The agency previously said it was ready for increased travel volume during this year's spring break and expected daily passenger throughput to exceed 90% of pre-pandemic levels throughout March.
“TSA’s collaboration with industry and federal partners has been instrumental throughout this pandemic, and now we are seeing a light at the end of the tunnel as demonstrated by the rapid recovery of the travel industry,” said TSA Administrator David Pekoske in a March 9 release. “We are prepared and ready for a busy spring, and are doing our part to ensure the traveling public is safe and secure by continuing to deploy new technologies within the checkpoint that enhance security, reduce physical contact and improve the traveling experience. We just ask travelers to do their part by being respectful to each other and those who work in the transportation sector – from our officers to airport workers and flight crew.”
Two weeks ago, officials announced Air Canada would restart daily nonstop service from Lambert to Toronto. The route had been paused in March 2020 due to the pandemic.
