Airport fills with families on the Sunday after Thanksgiving
CHEEKTOWAGA, N.Y. (WIVB) — On the Sunday after Thanksgiving, the Buffalo Niagara International Airport was filled with families arriving back home from vacation, others checking in for their flight back home and families saying their goodbyes.
“The airport was busier than I’m used to. There was actually a pretty long line when we got here and on the way back, but it was smooth overall,” said Sarah Blaszczak, who was arriving in Buffalo after a trip to Florida for the holiday.
“We flew from DC and arrived here in Buffalo last Tuesday, we like to fly on Tuesday if possible instead of the Wednesday before Thanksgiving, we usually find it to be less crowded,” said Susan Peter, who flew to Buffalo from D.C. to spend time with family on Thanksgiving.
Tens of thousands of people are expected to fly to and from the Buffalo airport after Thanksgiving.
“So far it’s been really great. Our numbers are up significantly from last year, almost 11 percent. We’re almost where we were pre-COVID. We’re excited to see everybody back, traveling,” said Kelly Khatib, NFTA communications manager.
With so many people traveling at once, people at the airport were pleasantly surprised with their experience.
“It actually wasn’t that bad. I mean going there was busy but coming back was pretty comfortable,” said Richard Reese, who was arriving back from Florida with family.
“Not too many hiccups, we’ve had pretty smooth sailing luckily. No delayed flights or anything like that. We’re in good shape,” said Bobby Heald, who was getting ready to board a flight to Kansas after spending the holiday with his fiancé’s family in Western New York.
Their advice for folks traveling during the holidays: “Leave enough time to get to the airport in advance so you don’t have to stress when getting through security and try to pack light if you can, that makes it a little less cumbersome to get through,” Peter said.
“Traveling with kids is hard, bring lots of things to do on the plane with them or get them an iPad,” Blaszczak said.
Sarah Minkewicz is an Emmy-nominated reporter and Buffalo native who has been a part of the News 4 team since 2019. Follow Sarah on Twitter andto see more of her work.
