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Sunday expected to be busiest travel day at Orlando International Airport this holiday season

Nearly 90,000 expected to pass through airport Sunday

ORLANDO, Fla. – As the holiday season winds down, plenty of travelers are heading home, which means a busy weekend for Orlando International Airport.

Sunday, Jan. 3 is expected to be the busiest day for the airport this holiday season, with nearly 45,000 departing passengers.

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The numbers come despite recommendations by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention to stay home this holiday season.

In a release from the Orlando International airport, these are the expected departure numbers for the airport:

Projected Busiest DaysDepartures
1Sunday, Jan. 344,971
2Sunday, Dec. 2744,571
3Sunday, Dec. 2043,131
4Saturday, Jan. 242,643
5Saturday, Dec. 2642,362
6Monday, Jan. 442,123
7Monday, Dec. 2141,929
8Saturday, Dec. 1941,852
9Monday, Dec. 2841,540
10Wednesday, Dec. 2338,982
11Tuesday, Dec. 2237,613
12Tuesday, Dec. 2936,910
13Wednesday, Dec. 3036,426
14Friday, Dec. 1835,675
15Tuesday, Jan. 533,397
16Thursday, Jan. 733,199
17Wednesday, Jan. 631,725
18Friday, Jan. 128,385
19Thursday, Dec. 3126,007
20Thursday, Dec. 2425,800
21Friday, Dec. 2525,595

On Saturday evening, News 6 monitored TSA screening, which took an estimated 20 minutes for a passenger to pass through.

Airport leaders previously told News 6 they ramped up their safety efforts for the holidays, including hand-sanitizing stations, social distancing markers and special sanitizing UV lighting.

Last month, airport leaders announced travelers would soon be able to get tested for COVID-19 at a clinic near the west end of the terminal.

The testing site is being set up as part of the concession program and will be located pre-security on the airport’s third level at the west end of the main terminal in the storefront, which previously housed a Kennedy Space Center shop, according to Greater Orlando Aviation Authority CEO Phil Brown.

The testing clinic was projected to open in December, however, a spokesperson at Orlando International Airport confirmed that the clinic has not opened yet and said airport officials continue to coordinate with AdventHealth Centra Care over how the setup will work.

Once it opens, operations are scheduled to continue through the end of July 2021.

According to a presentation slide, the tests are expected to cost anywhere from $60-80 for a rapid antigen test and $160-190 for a rapid PCR test.

It’s not clear when exactly testing will begin.


About the Author
Clay LePard headshot

It has been an absolute pleasure for Clay LePard living and working in Orlando since he joined News 6 in July 2017. Previously, Clay worked at WNEP TV in Scranton, Pennsylvania, where he brought viewers along to witness everything from unprecedented access to the Tobyhanna Army Depot to an interview with convicted double-murderer Hugo Selenski.

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