Record Travel Numbers Expected for Spring Break

Travelers should expect and be mindful of significant passenger flow at Louisville’s airport

The Louisville Muhammad Ali International Airport (SDF) is gearing up for a record Spring Break when more than 36,500 departing seats are scheduled from Thursday, March 28 through Sunday, March 31. This is more than a 13% increase compared to the same period last year, including 19 additional departing flights during the four-day period.

“Spring is officially here, and people are ready to visit their favorite fun in the sun vacation spots,” said Dan Mann, Executive Director of the Louisville Regional Airport Authority. “With capacity up, we expect it to be a very busy week at SDF. We encourage everyone to be mindful and prepared for this when traveling through our airport.”

With the expected volume of outgoing passengers, below are a few tips to help travelers prepare when departing SDF and make their experience a little easier.

• Arrive 2 to 2½ hours BEFORE your scheduled departure time and expect lines to be longer than usual with the larger number of travelers. Most flights board the aircraft 30 to 40 minutes before the posted departure time.
• For early morning departures before 8:30 a.m., arriving 2½ hours in advance is strongly encouraged.
• Save $5 on your trip when using a Lyft or Uber rideshare to get to SDF. Visit flylouisville.com/save5 for promo code information.
• Know where to park at SDF. Parking is only $5 per day in the convenient Express Shuttle Lot when you pre-book. Other self-park lots range from $8 to $16 per day with valet services at $30 per day. For information on all parking options, visit SDFPark.com. Temporary intermittent parking lot closures are possible as they become full.
• Check-in for your flight from home using the airline’s website or mobile app and closely monitor your flight status.
• Remember the 3-1-1 rule when packing – passengers can each have 3.4 oz of liquids, gels, aerosols or creams in one, 1-quart size clear bag in their carry on. Anything larger than 3.4 oz must go in a checked bag. The 1-quart size clear bag must be removed and placed separately when going through the TSA security checkpoint.
• Personal electronics larger than a cell phone such as laptops, tablets,
  e-readers or gaming consoles must be removed from a carry on and placed in their own separate bin when going through the TSA security checkpoint.
• Be mindful of any size or weight restrictions to carry on or checked bags for your airline. These can not only slow the check-in process with your airline (and possibly cost an additional fee), but also cause delays when going through TSA security screening.
• Have questions about what can or cannot be packed in a carry on or checked bag? Visit TSA.gov and click “What Can I Bring?” in the upper right corner to search for thousands of items.

SDF was the fastest growing airport of the Top 100 airports in the continental U.S. last year and celebrated its best year with more than 4.6 million total passengers.

“Our capacity for the first half of 2024, or the number of seats scheduled by the airlines, is up over 8% compared to last year,” said Anthony Gilmer, Vice President of Air Service Development and Strategic Marketing for the Airport Authority. “We have four new routes this Spring Break that were not available last year: Fort Lauderdale on Spirit and Southwest, Fort Myers on Breeze and Delta’s nonstop service to Boston. Florida is by far the most popular Spring Break destination for travelers in the region and the airlines have nearly 9,000 departing seats to the sunshine state between Thursday and Sunday – more than 40% more seats than last year!”

Passengers will also see the progress on the SDF Next Program, a robust terminal modernization effort that will see upwards of $500 million in improvements. The first phase of the TSA security checkpoint expansion, which includes nearly doubling the queueing area for general screening and TSA PreCheck passengers, opened just in time for Spring Break travel.

“Overall improvements including a new, expanded facility for our TSA security checkpoint at SDF is a high priority for us,” added Mann. “Having this first step done with more queue space for travelers in time for Spring Break is a win-win. Once done, we’re going to have a state-of-the-art checkpoint facility with up to 10 screening lanes, significantly improving the experience for travelers in Louisville.”