Orlando International Airport reports busiest week since March

Orlando International Airport (OIA) continues to slowly rebound from the effects the COVID-19 pandemic has had on traveling.

The airport says on Sunday, TSA agents screened 36,292 making it the busiest day since March 17. OIA was the fifth busiest airport in the country for departing passengers.

“As we begin to see traffic recover at Orlando International Airport, we remain committed to the health and safety of the traveling public,” said Phil Brown, Chief Executive Officer of the Greater Orlando Aviation Authority. “Seeing our airport busy with increasing traffic we believe reflects a pent-up demand for travel across the country that we hope will continue through the upcoming holiday travel season.”

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According to OIA, between October 10 and October 17, approximately 229,892 people were screened at security checkpoints, making it the airport’s busiest week since the beginning of the pandemic.

The TSA screened more than 1 million passengers on Sunday nationwide, the highest number of travelers to pass through airport checkpoints since the COVID-19 pandemic devasted the airline industry earlier this year. 

Fewer than 100,000 people were screened per day in April during the darkest days of the outbreak for the airline industry. Overall, the TSA screened 6.1 million passengers nationwide during the week of Oct. 12 through Oct. 18. That’s also the highest weekly volume for TSA since the start of the pandemic.