LOUISVILLE, Ky. — Around the beginning of July each year, Porter Sage flies into Louisville with his family to see his grandparents.

“We might spend some time shooting fireworks, things like that,” he said.

Sage, 16, lives in Portland, Oregon, but he comes to Kentucky at least once every year.  

Last year’s trip was a bit different.

“We had to separate in the seats and everything, so there was almost nobody on the plane,” Sage said. “It was kind of nice just being able to relax and lay out. You could extend your body out more.”

There are still some coronavirus rules at airports, but Sage noticed a major difference between this year and last year.

“It’s a lot more packed. There’s so many more people,” Sage said. “I’m not exactly sure why, and I’m pretty sure it’s because of the coronavirus and how things are getting a little more loose.”

A record-setting number of travelers went through Louisville Muhammad Ali International Airport in July 2019, according to spokeswoman Natalie Chaudoin.

Based on scheduled seats, she expects 93% of the travelers who went through the airport in July 2019. The number of scheduled seats on flights this month is also almost double what it was in July 2020: 226,264, compared to 117,489 last year.

The airport has grown since last year: two new airlines — Spirit and Breeze — started providing service in May, and Allegiant announced a new nonstop flight from Louisville to Austin, Texas last week.

“All really good news for us that leaves us very optimistic as we continue recovery from the pandemic,” Chaudoin said.

Sage said he was anxious about flying last year.

“There was definitely that worry of like catching the coronavirus because we didn’t have vaccines in 2020 and traveling was kind of a big deal,” he said.

But now he’s been vaccinated and he said he didn’t feel the same anxiety about flying this year.