CLEVELAND — Outside of the required masking that stands as a reminder that the U.S. is still in the midst of a pandemic, officials say Thanksgiving week at Cleveland-Hopkins International Airport will likely look like any other Thanksgiving weekend.

Based on projections released by the airport, 280,000 travelers are expected to utilize the airport during the 10-day Thanksgiving travel period, a 20,000-person increase from 2019. The airport considers the time period of Nov. 19-28 as the Thanksgiving travel period. 

During the same span in 2020, 118,000 travelers departed or arrived at the airport. 

The airport expects that Sunday, Nov.28 will be the busiest travel day of the year. The day before Thanksgiving is also expected to be busy. 

Cleveland Hopkins International Airport said additional staff will be assigned during the heavy travel periods including customer service personnel, law enforcement personnel including Cleveland Police Airport Unit, Federal law enforcement agencies, and custodial and maintenance staff.

Nationally, travel from Nov. 14-18, 2019 was 19 percent higher than Nov. 14-18, 2021, according to TSA data. 

Airport officials said that they encourage travelers to arrive at least two hours before scheduled departures. 

AAA projects that 4.2 million Americans will utilize air travel this Thanksgiving, which is up from 2.3 million a year ago, but down from 4.6 million from two years ago. Overall, AAA expects travel to be down by 5 percent this year compared to Thanksgiving 2019, but up 13 percent from a year ago.

“International travel reopening will allow people to reconnect with friends and family and explore new places, while also giving a much-needed boost to the economy,” said Paula Twidale, senior vice president, AAA Travel. “But it also means airports will be busier than we’ve seen, so travelers must plan for long lines and extra time for TSA checks.”