Travelers flood BNA ahead of Thanksgiving

NASHVILLE, Tenn. (WSMV) - It is a busy time for holiday travelers as people get ready to spend Thanksgiving with their loved ones.

Six states are also under a winter weather advisory, causing delays and flight cancellations ahead of the holiday.

Laura and Jim Fick are traveling to California this year for Thanksgiving and were waiting to see how long their connecting flight was delayed.

“Hopefully we are on time so we can land in Denver, switch a suitcase out for Jim and be on our way to San Francisco,” Laura said.

Nashville International Airport (BNA) normally sees 60,000 people a day. However, for Wednesday and Sunday, workers are bracing to see more than 70,000 passengers.

“I was a little surprised it’s this busy already but it’s Thanksgiving, too, so yeah,” said Jim.

BNA officials are advising everyone to get to the airport two hours early to allow some extra time for the TSA security checkpoint.

BNA’s parking lots are filling up fast, so be sure to check the parking availability before driving to the airport, as well.

Thanksgiving travels are expected to be just shy of pre-pandemic levels. The American Automobile Association (AAA) expects 54.6 million people to travel this week, with roughly 49 million of them expected to travel by car.

Consequently, the analytics and data company, INRIX, predicts bad traffic situations in several metro areas. To avoid traffic, experts recommend driving in early Wednesday morning or before 11 a.m. on Thanksgiving Day. Also, avoid traveling between 4 - 8 p.m. on Friday, Saturday, or Sunday when heading back home.

AAA expects this to be the third busiest year for Thanksgiving travel since 2000, so be sure to allocate some extra time to get to where you need to go.

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