Air travel in Norfolk high, but not record-breaking over busy holiday weekend

NORFOLK, Va. (WAVY) — The Transportation Security Administration said it screened more than three million air passengers across the U.S. Sunday, setting a new all-time record for the largest total in a single day. It’s expecting to see similar numbers Monday as people continue to make their way home from the holiday weekend.

And while Norfolk International Airport is busy, it’s not quite breaking records.

A TSA spokesperson told 10 On Your Side that 10,855 passengers came through security at Norfolk International Airport Sunday. The airport recorded its busiest day ever last month, when on June 16, 11,104 people passed through the security checkpoint.

Frequent flier Valita Bowser has noticed the number of passengers going up as airfares have fallen.

“It’s busy today, though, for a Monday, because normally I travel on Mondays,” she said. “So when I first started traveling, it was around the wintertime and there wasn’t that many people at TSA, but now they stepped [up] their game.”

TSA increased the number of agents working to meet the demand and keep the lines moving during peak travel times.

Nationwide, air travel for the July 4 holiday weekend was expected to be up 5% from last year. TSA estimated that it would see nearly 16 million passengers between July 3 and July 8.