Holiday travel volumes at Memphis International Airport (MEM) are expected to bounce way back from last year’s Covid lows and are expected to increase slightly over pre-Covid volumes.
Airport officials projected the 2022 holiday travel season (December 16th through January 2nd) will rise 17.2 percent over the same period last year when flights were running but with tight restrictions. However, Memphis officials said they also expect travel volumes to beat pre-Covid (2019) travel volumes by 2.7 percent.
Winter weather brings uncertainty to flight travel this week with snow predicted for Thursday. For this, MEM said it “is monitoring the weather this week and will be prepared to activate the consolidated deicing facility (CDF) and/or deploy snow/ice removal equipment if necessary.”
“With winter weather forecast in various parts of the U.S. this week, passengers should check frequently with their airlines since schedules are likely to be fluid,” airport officials said.
MEM offered these tips for holiday travel, especially with winter weather in the forecast:
• Arrive two hours early, especially if you have an early morning flight.
• Thoroughly inspect all carry-on bags before going through the checkpoint.
• Firearms are strictly prohibited in carry-on bags and TSA has increased penalties for these violations.
• Should the overflow parking lot open, MEM will operate a shuttle between the overflow parking lot and the terminal. Passengers arriving at the overflow lot can call 901-922-8065 to request shuttle service.
