BILLINGS — With a record amount of Americans traveling for Thanksgiving this year than in 2023, the Billings Airport was busier than usual this weekend.
According to Triple A, there was a total of 79.86 million travelers over the past week, which is more than a two percent increase from what the total number was last year. Their report shows that there were increases in both the amount of air travelers and those traveling by vehicle.
That additional crowd was certainly felt by the Billings airport over the weekend, though travelers who had been at other larger airports during the day said that it wasn't a part of the problem. Tina and Jim Aho were among those arriving in Billings Sunday afternoon.
"Today has been really easy," said Tina.
"Yeah, well, it's been easier," said Jim. "We actually flew on Friday and had a four hour delay, but basically it’s gone very well today."
The Ahos agreed that their delays at larger airports during the week were just a part of traveling during the holidays.
“When we got to Dallas, I said, ‘Gosh there’s a lot of people here for it being this early in the morning,” Jim said. "We flew the Friday before Thanksgiving and for some reason the lines we’re very long. Again, it could’ve just been the weather."
The weather, along with 5.84 million air travelers — a 2.1 percent increase from 2023 — all led to some long travel days with packed airports. Alexandra Timoshenko made the trip to Billings from Montreal and said she noticed the additional crowd early.
“It seems like it was pretty crowded, there was a lot of people at the Montreal airport,” Timoshenko said. “Both the airplanes I took were very packed. I don’t know if that’s normal, but they were both completely full."
Timoshenko said the Denver airport is where she dealt with the biggest crowds.
“There were tons of people on the trains and just everywhere in the restaurants and what not, so I would say probably crowded,” Timoshenko said.
Still, travelers agreed that the Billings airport ran smoothly and they did their best to keep their long days in perspective.
“We got to where we had to go, so it was a good day,” Jim Aho said.
