LOUISVILLE, Ky. — As COVID-19 numbers decline and travel picks back up again, airports around the country are expecting record high numbers.

Holidays are one of the busiest times for air travel and Memorial Day weekend proves to be no different. The Louisville Muhammad Ali International Airport is expecting more than twenty nine thousand flyers.

“People are wanting to get out, the demand for travel is clearly there. We see the numbers continuing to increase and the fact that overall capacity in June will be close to 91 percent of where we were in 2019, that’s a really really good sign for us here,” Natalie Chaudoin, director of public relations for Louisville Regional Airport Authority said.

Louisville Muhammad Ali International Aiport is currently at 79% for capacity numbers compared to 2019 levels.

Airport officials say the addition of two new airlines providing direct flights to several major cities couldn't have come at a better time.

“It's been a great week for SDF, we have two new airlines that launched Thursday and Friday with Spirit and Breeze, not to mention Allegiant’s launch of nonstop flights to Charleston on Friday so it's just been a really good week, a nice way to kick off that summer travel period,” Chaudoin said.

SDF is asking passengers to arrive at least an hour and a half to two hours before their departure as air travel once again picks up speed.

“Make sure they give themselves plenty of time to get checked in and get through TSA security just because a lot of folks are used to it if you have traveled. Obviously numbers have been down in 2020, things have been going a little quicker but with those numbers creeping back up, it's going to be like 2019 travel levels,” Chaudoin said.