Denver International Airport expecting record travel on Labor Day weekend

Denver International Airport is once again expecting to smash records on yet another holiday weekend.

More than 444,500 passengers were expected to travel through DIA’s TSA checkpoints between Thursday, August 29 and Tuesday, September 3.

Friday and Monday are anticipated to be the busiest days in that time period, with more than 177,895 passengers expected on those days.

Evan Suhr was one of those passengers checking into his flight home from a work trip on Friday.

“Yeah, when [my company] said, ‘You’re going to be flying home Labor Day weekend,’ I said, ‘that sounds like it could be fun,’” he laughed, “but so far, yeah, it hasn’t been too bad.”

Many of the passengers Denver7 spoke to on Friday happened to be relatively new travelers on business trips.

Jaylen Moore was one of those travelers.

“I’m like ‘Ahh!’ I’ve never been to an airport and this is my second time flying so this is a brand new experience for me,” he said.

Moore and his travel buddy Olivia Gress said they made sure to plan ahead, given the day and time they were flying out.

“We’re giving plenty of time cause we know how busy airports can get, especially a holiday weekend,” said Gross.

Despite the constant crowds, things flowed smoothly Friday morning.

“My friends and family were like, ‘give yourself at least two hours.’ I also did like the check-in on Denver Reserve for security - they said security can be pretty long so I’m hoping I’m prepared enough and give myself time,” said Suhr.

Looks like it paid off, too — because many of the early birds Denver7 spoke to ended up having an stress-free travel experience.

Dave Hochstetler drove in early from Cheyenne to catch a flight to Dallas.

“I was expecting to need to get here early, but looks like it’s going to be fine,” he said.

The 2024 Labor Day travel weekend marks a 5.1% increase compared to the same period of travel in 2023.

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