TSA expands hours at Cleveland Hopkins airport ahead of busy summer travel season

CLEVELAND, Ohio – The Transportation Security Administration is expanding its hours at Cleveland Hopkins International Airport ahead of the busy summer travel season.

Starting this week, the airport’s south TSA checkpoint – the one closest to the United Airlines counters – is open at 3 a.m., 30 minutes earlier than previously scheduled. The north and central checkpoints are open at 3:45 a.m., 15 minutes earlier than before. Closing times vary, but one checkpoint is typically open until 10 p.m.

Jessica Mayle, a spokesperson for TSA, said the expanded hours aren’t a result of long wait times in Cleveland. Rather, she said, they’re based on airline schedules. “Many airports across the country are seeing their checkpoints open earlier to accommodate the additional flights that are taking off this summer,” she said.

The airport this summer is predicting 3.3 million travelers during the “100 days of summer,” from Memorial Day week through Labor Day – that’s 6.5% higher, or 200,000 more travelers than during the same period last year.

So far this year, passenger traffic is up 8% over a year ago, and 3% over 2019, before the COVID pandemic, when more than 10 million people traveled through Cleveland Hopkins.

Frontier Airlines, in particular, is expanding rapidly in Cleveland, adding a dozen new destinations this spring.

In addition, Sun Country Airlines just launched new service from Hopkins to Minneapolis-St. Paul, becoming the 11th carrier to fly from Cleveland.

The airport, in a press release, stressed the importance of getting to the airport early, especially during the peak travel hours of 4 a.m. to 6 a.m., 11 a.m. to 1 p.m. and 5 p.m. to 7 p.m.

Mayle, with TSA, said the agency would use tools such as canine screening and voluntary overtime during projected high passenger loads. She added, “As a reminder, the wait time standard is 30 minutes for standard passengers and 10 minutes for PreCheck passengers.”

Read more:

Hurry up and wait: TSA lines grow long as Cleveland Hopkins passenger numbers increase

Skipping the line at the airport: TSA PreCheck, Global Entry or Clear; which one is right for you?

Want to fly someplace new? Airlines adding 11 routes from Cleveland Hopkins, all in one week