Pasco, Wash.-- At the Tri-Cities Airport things are ramping up for what is going to be one of the busiest travel weekends of the year.
An airport official tells me they anticipate a definite increase this Saturday and Sunday and people should prepare for a little bit of that holiday travel madness.
'Tis the season for airport lines and highway traffic and Friday the holiday travel rush is really taking off.
Because Christmas falls right after the weekend this year, people have some extra time on Saturday and Sunday to start their trip a little earlier.
"Folks getting off work and having the weekend to get to heir destinations, I think we'll see a good increase," said Ron Foraker, Director of the Tri-Cities Airport.
The airport has seen a 3% increase in passengers at the end of this year and expects to see those numbers rise even higher after this weekend.
Showing up to the airport early is a must to make it through check-in and security. The early traveler get the seats.
"I knew the weekend before would be busy and I knew with weather constraints and all that and they're asking for volunteers to take a different flight right now," said Nicole Hoffman, a weekend traveler.
Other people are hitting the roads to get home for the holidays and are prepping their cars for the trip.
"We haven't been doing too much in the chain sales yet because we haven't got hit in this area with the snow but as soon as Christmas came around and everyone started to go do their traveling they took off," said Mike Rushman, Manager at AutoZone.
Shelves are emptying out for anti-freeze and de-icers, with snowy conditions expected over the pass.
No matter which way you're traveling to make it to your holiday celebrations, it helps to keep that final destination in sight.
"I'm so happy to go see my family that it takes kind of the stress off of it," Hoffman said.
A recent survey estimates that 42 million people will be flying over the holidays this year and AAA says over 84 million will drive, including 1.5 million here in the Pacific Northwest.
