AAA reports that 49 million Americans will take off this Fourth of July and head to their holiday end of the week destinations.
The organization said more than 688,000 of those travelers will be South Carolinians.
WMBF News talked with a few guests who said they chose to descend before in the week to beat the holiday rush. Some even made traveled through the night to beat the traffic.
“We left 6 o’clock and got here at midnight so it worked out pretty good for us,” said visitor Chris Mills. “We had a lot of bad experience on holidays. A few times we even turned around, came back and stayed a few more nights just to not sit in traffic.”
“It definitely seems like an increase in travelers around this area… 100%,” said visitor Zach Baker.
In the interim at the Myrtle Beach International Airport, traffic was backed up Tuesday afternoon to Harrelson Boulevard.
“It was real busy today, real busy. As far as I heard it don’t get busy like that,” said visitor Marquise Bains.
“I think it’s crazy. A lot of people here. However, went right through security no problem. All the employees have been great they taken care of us. Considering everything happening here for the Fourth it really went smooth,” agreed Steven Mellish.
Airport workers said they expect the busiest travel day for departures will be Saturday July 7.
“When comparing year over year by day, Thursday-Monday, maximum inbound passenger counts could be 1-2% over last year. Max possible passengers (based on 100% of scheduled seats sold) is 36,600 arriving passengers,” said Myrtle Beach International Airport spokesman Kirk Lovell.
Lovell likewise included that the airplane anticipates long lines and travelers are urged to arrive two hours ahead of schedule to their flight.
