US expects to screen 20 million air travellers during Thanksgiving period

The TSA said airport security checkpoints nationwide will be busy in the period that starts on Friday and runs through November 28. Reuters

The US Transportation Security Administration (TSA) said on Wednesday it expects to screen about 20 million air passengers during the busy Thanksgiving travel period, starting on Friday through November 28, and that passenger volumes “may be very close to pre-pandemic levels this holiday".

Delta Air Lines is forecasting up to 5.6 million passengers from Friday through November 30, about 300 per cent more than the 2.2 million passengers reported in the same period of 2020 but still below the 6.3 million passengers registered during the same period in 2019.

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  Maureen Watkins is reunited with her grandchildren upon her arrival from London at Dulles International Airport in Chantilly, Virginia, on November 8, 2021. Reuters

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  A woman hugs her grandson that she has not seen in three years upon her arrival from Frankfurt, Germany, at Dulles International Airport. Reuters

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  Family members hold signs as they wait for passengers travelling from London to arrive at John F Kennedy International Airport in New York. Bloomberg

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  Ank Dow from the Netherlands greets her family after she passed through the US Customs and Border Protection gate at Boston's Logan International Airport. EPA

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  Paul Campbell waits for his fiancee Patricia Bittag to arrive on a flight from Amsterdam at Logan International Airport. The pair had been separated for 23 months. Reuters

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  People meet relatives at baggage claim at John F Kennedy International Airport. Reuters

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  Balbina Gonzalez embraces her one-year-old granddaughter for the first time outside the US Customs and Border Protection Logan International Airport. EPA

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  A group of motorists wait in line at San Ysidro checkpoint before entering the US in Tijuana, Baja California state, Mexico. EPA

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  Maria Isabel Renteria embraces her mother whom she had not seen in almost two years near the Gateway to the Americas border crossing in Laredo, Texas. Reuters

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  A group of travellers crosses the land border that connects El Paso, Texas, with Ciudad Juarez, Chihuahua state, Mexico. EPA

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  Dual US-Canadian citizen Traysi Spring and her American husband, Tom Bakken, hold a homemade sign to welcome people heading into the US from Canada. AP

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  Family members embrace as they are reunited at Dulles International Airport. AFP

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  Patrick van Rosendaal greets Belgian travellers with a sign and waffles as they arrive at Newark Liberty International Airport in Newark, New Jersey. AP

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  Jeannette Feuth from the Netherlands embraces her granddaughter as her daughter watches on. AFP

United Airlines said it expects more than 4.5 million passengers during the Thanksgiving travel period — about 88 per cent of 2019 volume.

The airline said it was adding about 700 domestic flights for Thanksgiving week and would fly 87 per cent of its 2019 domestic schedule in November.

Last Friday, three dozen Democratic members of the US Congress urged President Joe Biden to require domestic airline passengers to show proof of vaccination against Covid-19 or a negative test result.

The Biden administration las week lifted travel restrictions for fully vaccinated air travellers from 33 countries including China, South Africa, Brazil and much of Europe.

The lift ended 20 months of restrictions that had separated families and strained diplomatic ties.

The US will require air passengers to be fully vaccinated and tested within three days of international travel. Airlines will be required to put in place a contact-tracing system.

Airlines for America, an industry trade group, said that in the week ending November 9, US airline passenger volumes were 13 per cent below pre-pandemic levels, with domestic air travel down 11 per cent and international down 30 per cent.

Travel group AAA forecasts 53.4 million people will travel for the Thanksgiving holiday, up 13 per cent from 2020, with most travelling by car.

The US also last week lifted restrictions on fully vaccinated tourists travelling across land borders from Mexico and Canada.