Tulsa International Airport Sees Largest Increase In Travel Since Pandemic Began

Tulsa International Airport staff said they’re seeing an increase in the number of people traveling for the holidays.

Officials said they've seen an increase in travelers this week and last week, but it's still only about half of what they would normally see during the holiday season.

Wednesday, passengers were checking in, loved ones said goodbye, and people headed to the airport early. 

“We were in snow a little bit. So, we left a little bit early. So, we tried to get here about 45 minutes early; it’s pretty comfortable. Not a big rush," said Loren Davis.

Davis is in Tulsa visiting family for the holidays. He and his family boarded a plane in Sacramento for the first time since the pandemic. 

“I think that a lot of people are wanting to take those trips to see their families members that they haven’t gotten a chance to see," said Stephanie Chester.

Chester is the Community Relations Manager for Tulsa International Airport. She said it's been a busy two weeks, and during the week of Christmas about 50,000 people traveled through Tulsa's airport. 

“For right now, we’re still seeing prior to the holiday, but we were still down about 55 percent from what our normal traffic is; so with the holiday season, we’ve seen a small pick up, but we don’t know if that will continue," said Chester. 

She said even with the dip in numbers, they're still seeing more passengers compared to some airports across the country. 

“We’re actually preforming better for passenger traffic so that’s definitely something that we’re happy about, but we’re making sure that we’re keeping those procedures in places so that our passengers are safe whenever they travel here," said Chester.

She said they expect even more travelers this week after the New year and hope to see the increase continue. Travelers say they haven't seen much of a change. 

“We’ve been in this airport many times and it looks pretty normal compared to previous years," said Davis.