Nearly 2 million Arizonans plan to travel over the Thanksgiving holiday, up 5.6 percent from last year, according to AAA Arizonaβs annual travel forecast.
But the number of Arizonans who plan to fly to their destinations is down 6 percent β the first drop in Thanksgiving air travel in four years, according to AAAβs annual survey.
The number of Arizonans who plan to drive is up 9 percent, likely because low gas prices are prompting more families to hit the road, AAA says.
With a current statewide average of $2.15 per gallon of regular, Arizona drivers will be paying pay the lowest gas prices for the Thanksgiving holiday since 2008.
AAAβs annual survey counts travel of 50 miles or more, from Wednesday through Sunday.
Nationally, AAA projects that 48.7 million Americans will travel nationwide this Thanksgiving, a 1.9 percent jump from last year and the highest number of Thanksgiving travelers nationwide since 2007.
Thanksgiving air travel nationwide is expected to rise 1.6 percent, to 3.7 million travelers.
Of the estimated 1.9 million Arizonans traveling over the holiday, more than 345,000 plan to fly, AAA says.
The AAA survey was conducted by Phoenix-based Behavior Research Center.
Flying from Tucson
The Thanksgiving Day holiday period is the busiest time at Tucson International Airport, with airlines adding flights to accommodate demand.
Sunday will be the busiest day of the year at the airport with 130 scheduled flights, 25 percent more than average, airport officials say. TIA offers some travel tips:
- Parking and construction: Installation of solar canopies in the parking lots in front of the terminal has temporarily taken about one-third of the spaces in the daily lot out of service. Alternatives are the parking structure off South Country Club Road or the economy lot off East Corona Road, west of the entrance to the terminal.
- Terminal construction: Passengers should be aware of temporary directional signage for ongoing terminal renovation work, but disruptions should be minimal.
- American and United swap: In September, American Airlines and United Airlines swapped ticket counter and concourse locations. All American flights now depart and arrive on the B Concourse, and United flights arrive and depart from the A Concourse.
- Aeromar: In October, international commercial airline service resumed with Aeromar flights to Mexico. Aeromarβs check-in counter is on the east side of the terminal, next to Southwest, and its flights depart from gate A2. Arriving passengers can be met at the International Arrivals Welcome Lounge, next to the entrance of Concourse A on the second (ticketing) level.
- Donβt bring a Note 7: The U.S. Department of Transportation has banned all Samsung Galaxy Note 7 phone s from aircraft, even if turned off. If you have one, itβs best not to even bring it to the airport.
- Security lines: To allow time to navigate ticket counters and Transportation Security Administration checkpoints, plan on arriving at the airport at least 90 minutes before departure time on the busiest travel days. Some airlines now require bags to be checked at least 45 minutes prior to departure.
- For the Thanksgiving holiday, the busiest time is for flights departing from 6 a.m. to 9:30 a.m. and again in the afternoon for flights departing between 12:30 p.m. and 2:30 p.m., airport spokesman David Hatfield said.
- It will be especially crowded on the B Concourse (Alaska, American and Delta) when those airlines have six flights scheduled to depart between 2:05 and 2:36 p.m., he added.
- Arrivals: Go to
- www.flytucson.com for
- real-time flight arrival times. A cellphone waiting lot is available for free. Turn right just before reaching the terminal to get to the lot.
- Flying from Phoenix: For information on flights from Phoenix Sky Harbor International Airport, including current security-checkpoint waiting times, go to
- skyharbor.
- com
