LOUISVILLE, Ky. (WDRB) -- As more people fill the Louisville Muhammad Ali International Airport for summer travel, more time needs to be set aside to make those plane flights.
In recent weeks, the Transportation Security Administration (TSA) checkpoint lines have been backed up to the escalators.
The airport is already at 90% of its attendance in 2019, which was a record-breaking year. Lines develop at the ticket counters and rental car locations, where prices have also increased.
Airport officials said travelers won't be able to show up and rush to a gate, recommending flyers arrive around two hours early.
"If you've traveled in the last year, you were able to pull into the front spot and go. That's not going to happen necessarily right now," said Natalie Chaudoin, director of public relations for the airport. "That makes it all the more important that people give themselves plenty of time to get to the airport and once they are there to get checked through security and to their gate."
The addition of Spirit and Breeze airlines has increased the amount of travelers at the airport.
Chaudoin recommends flyers download airlines' apps for notifications on delays.
Travelers are eager to take trips with an increasing amount of destinations offered in Louisville.
"I can't wait to get out of Louisville to have a little R&R (rest and relaxation)," said Sheila Slum, who was traveling to Texas on Monday. "I don't care if it's just sitting watching a river go by and having a drink. I don't care."
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