Memorial Day holiday traffic expected in the sky and on the road

PANAMA CITY, Fla. (WJHG/WECP) - Memorial Day weekend is a busy travel time for people. Northwest Florida Beaches International Airport is no different.

“It is always a huge weekend for the airport,” Holly Melzer, Airport Board of Directors Chairman said.

Travelers will be flying out of the airport, and many will be landing down in the panhandle.

“We expect increased passenger travel this year,” Melzer said.

There is limited parking at the airport, and with ongoing construction due to the expansion, it could require some extra planning for flyers.

“We encourage passengers to allow for extra time and allow for extra time in coming to airport due to increased traffic in and around airport and construction,” Melzer said.

Airport officials say they are having a similar number of airlines coming in and out of the airport this weekend.

“However, those airlines are having bigger aircraft which allows for more passengers seats, so we do expect increased passenger traffic this weekend.”

Airports are not the only busy place during this time, people are packing up and hitting the roads.

“98 is going to be well traveled,” Florida Highway Patrol Sergeant Ron Livingston said.

FHP officials say people need to have patience on the roadways.

“Memorial Day weekend is one of our biggest heavily traveled times of the year,” Livingston said.

They say they will be focusing on traffic related violations, making sure everyone gets where they’re going safely.

“There’s a lot of traffic a lot of people coming from the north to the beach, our biggest thing is speed and speed kills we try to slow traffic down as much as possible,” Livingston said.

FHP will be focusing on aggressive driving, seatbelts, DUI’s and speeding.

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