Denver International Airport expects to fall only about 4,000 travelers short of the record of 1,017,476 Thanksgiving sojourners set last year.
But more than a million travelers during the Tuesday-Monday period is still quite a crowd, even for the nation’s fifth-busiest airport, said DIA spokeswoman Laura Coale.
Today is the second-busiest day of the week, with 166,797 booked seats. Sunday is the busiest day with 166,917 expected flyers, she said.
With that in mind, those headed out of town by air Wednesday should pack their patience along with their thankfulness, airport officials advised.
“We can’t overemphasize the importance of planning ahead and allowing extra travel time to navigate the airport at this time of year,” Dan Melfi, the designated “DIA holiday spokesperson,” stated.
As of 9:15 p.m., the Pikes Peak lot was full, but parking spaces were still plentiful at the airport garage, economy lots and Mount Elbert lot, according to the airport parking hotline, 303-DIA-PARK or 303-342-7275. Overhead electronic signs and other message boards along Peña Boulevard also can guide travelers to open spaces.
DIA has more than 40,000 parking spaces at the airport and in nearby lots.
DIA recommends getting to the airport at least two hours before flights and keeping a watch on the status of the flights, parking availability, waits in security lines and other information at
The airport saw the busiest Thanksgiving travel week in its history in 2010, with 57,183 more passengers than the 960,293 who passed through the airport during Thanksgiving week in 2009.
In all of 2010, almost 52 million travelers passed through DIA.
Joey Bunch: 303-954-1174 or jbunch@denverpost.com
This story has been corrected in this online archive. Originally, the number of record travelers and the period over which they traveled was incorrect. Last year 1,017,476 people passed through DIA in the Tuesday through Monday period.
