Airport preparing for Memorial Day travelers

LITTLE ROCK, Ark. (KAIT/Edited News Release) - Bill and Hillary Clinton National Airport is preparing for Memorial Day holiday travel at near pre-pandemic levels.

The Transportation Security Administration (TSA) expects 26,199 passengers will fly out of the state’s largest airport from Thursday, May 25, through Wednesday, May 31. The busiest day for Little Rock during the seven-day period is projected to be Thursday, May 25, with 4,484 passengers departing.

“Passengers are advised to arrive at the airport two hours before departure time”, said Shane Carter, the airport’s director of public affairs and governmental relations. “We continue to have passengers show up 15 to 30 minutes before their departure time, which is a guaranteed way to miss a flight.”

TSA is prepared to screen high volumes of passengers at security checkpoints nationwide for the summer travel season, which starts this weekend. The agency reports Friday, May 26, will be the busiest travel day of the long weekend nationwide with approximately 2.6 million passengers expected to be screened.

TSA has announced teenagers aged 13-17 may now accompany TSA PreCheck enrolled parents or guardians through PreCheck screening when traveling on the same reservation and when the PreCheck indicator appears on the teen’s boarding pass. Children 12 and under may still accompany an enrolled parent or guardian when traveling through TSA PreCheck lanes anytime without restriction. Passengers may enroll in PreCheck at Clinton National Airport’s enrollment center, located inside the airport. Additional enrollment details may be found here.

Clinton National is at 97% of pre-pandemic passenger levels for the holiday weekend. 27,061 passengers flew out of Little Rock in 2019.