Thanksgiving 2017: Record Airport Crowd Expected Sunday

ATLANTA, GA — Brace yourselves, air travelers. Airports around the country will be packed during the Thanksgiving travel period this week, and the biggest crowds will be at Hartsfield-Jackson International Airport, say media reports.

The world's busiest airport saw thousands of travelers depart for Grandma's house on Wednesday, but the Sunday after Thanksgiving will be the airport's busiest travel day of 2017, a Hartsfield-Jackson spokesman told Atlanta radio station WABE. The airport is expecting more than 315,000 passengers to crowd the gates and concourses.

Of those, 97,000 on Sunday are expected to pass through Transportation Security Administration checkpoints. That’s up nearly 20 percent over the Sunday after Thanksgiving in 2016, the Atlanta Journal-Constitution reported.

It would also exceed the airport's previous record of 92,421 passengers on the Friday before the Fourth of July this year, the AJC reported.

SEE MORE: Thanksgiving 2017: Record Travel Likely, ATL Airport Tips

Hartsfield-Jackson officials are expecting more than 3 million passengers during the Thanksgiving period, which began Friday and runs through next Monday, according to WABE. That projection exceeds last year's total by about 200,000

To help get passengers get in and out of Hartsfield-Jackson, airport officials say they are ceasing ongoing construction projects to make traffic in the airport area smoother. Staffing at the airport has been increased and TSA checkpoints will be opening earlier than usual.

The airport also is reminding domestic travelers to arrive two hours before their flight time. For more information on flights, parking and other details about the Atlanta airport, you can visit the airport's website or download the iFLYAtl mobile app.

Photo courtesy Hartsfield Jackson Atlanta International Airport