A record 144 million passengers made 2023 the busiest year to date for NYC airports, and these astronomical numbers aren’t letting up any time soon–more than 119 million Americans are expected to travel this holiday season alone. With that being said, some airports will be busier than others, and you’ll likely want to avoid them to save yourself both time and a headache.
Travel app Hopper found that:
32.5 million seats are currently scheduled to depart from U.S. airports between Monday December 23rd and New Year’s Day, representing a 2.4% increase compared to what was scheduled at this time last year for the holiday.
And amidst this busy travel week, Hopper unveiled which airports will be the busiest for Christmas travel. Lucky for us, New York City didn’t top the list, rather Atlanta, Dallas Fort-Worth, and Denver claimed the top three spots, serving over 1.3 million scheduled departing seats each. All three airports are also preparing for higher disruption rates vs. 2023, so travelers should plan ahead for extra travel time.
An NYC airport actually didn’t find itself on the list until the seventh spot, which was claimed by JFK; the airport found to have the third worst security lines in the country during the holiday season. JFK will serve a whopping 1,008,816 scheduled departing seats, though thankfully its disruption rate has improved 12% compared to 2023.
Moreover, if you are flying out of JFK try to avoid doing so between the hours of 4pm and 8pm, as Hopper found this to be the busiest time to depart from this airport.
Overall, Monday, December 23rd, Thursday, December 26th, Friday, December 27th, Sunday, December 29th, and Monday, December 30th are expected to be the most crowded days for airports. To help make it through the airport as smoothly as possible, TSA recommends arriving at the airport early, knowing ahead of time what you can and can’t bring through security, and packing gifts in bags or boxes instead of wrapping paper in case they need to be inspected.
The top ten busiest airports for Christmas travel are as follows:
1. Hartsfield-Jackson Atlanta International Airport (ATL)
2. Dallas Fort Worth International Airport (DFW)
3. Denver International Airport (DEN)
4. Los Angeles International Airport (LAX)
5. Chicago O’Hare International Airport (ORD)
6. Orlando International Airport (MCO)
7. John F. Kennedy International Airport (JFK)
8. Miami International Airport (MIA)
9. Las Vegas Airport (LAS)
10. Phoenix Sky Harbor International Airport (PHX)