As the holiday season approaches, millions of travelers are preparing to pack their bags and head to the skies, making this one of the busiest times of the year for air travel. Airports across the United States experience a significant surge in passenger traffic, with some hubs seeing more dramatic increases than others. Whether travelers are visiting family, heading for a vacation, or flying for business, the peak holiday season creates a challenge for both airports and airlines to manage the spike in demand.
In response to rising air travel demand, aging aviation infrastructure, and critical funding gaps, the Airport Infrastructure Grant (AIG) program has provided $14.5 billion in funding over five years to support terminal expansions, baggage system upgrades, runway enhancements, and air traffic infrastructure improvements. As air travel remains near record highs—including the Transportation Security Administration (TSA) screening nearly 3.1 million passengers in a single day in November of 2025—these investments will help airports better handle surges in traffic during the busy holiday season.
To better understand which airports are most impacted during the winter holidays, researchers at Luxury Link—an online booking platform specializing in luxury travel—analyzed the latest data from TSA.
Here are the key takeaways from the analysis:
Holiday flight passenger volumes reached historic highs in 2025. Average daily passenger traffic during the holiday season exceeded 2.53 million, 8.2% higher than pre-pandemic levels.
Small regional airports experience the most dramatic passenger surges during the holiday travel rush. Daily passenger traffic at nonhub nonprimary airports spikes by 15.1% over the holidays.
Delaware leads the nation in airport passenger growth during the holiday season. The state sees a massive 49.1% increase in daily passenger traffic over the holiday months.
Major U.S. airports in warm-weather tourist destinations experience the highest passenger surges. Fort Lauderdale-Hollywood International Airport (FLL) tops the list of large hubs with a 26.1% increase in daily passenger traffic over the holidays.
