With Thanksgiving less than a week away, Redmond Airport already seeing busy holiday travel crowds

REDMOND, Ore. (KTVZ)-- Despite it being earlier than the AAA Thanksgiving travel period of Tuesday, November 26th to Monday, December 2nd, the Redmond Airport was packed Friday afternoon.

AAA is projecting nearly 80 million Americans to travel this Thanksgiving period, over 5 million by air. The Redmond Airport says they've already seen many of those travelers arrive early.

"We've definitely seen an uptick in travelers," said Jodi Low, administrative supervisor for the Redmond Municipal Airport, said Friday. "Lots of full flights, lots of folks at the curbside dropping off or picking up people."

Some travelers we spoke to said their holiday travel to Central Oregon was the smoothest they have experienced, pointing to arriving early to the airport.

Janet Frey said, "I came from Santa Rosa to Redmond. It was a piece of cake! Not a lot of people at the airport. Everything was on time, like smooth, super-easy."

"I actually got to the airport like two hours early, which I normally don't," Frey said. "But it was helpful just to feel like I was there, I could see my gate."

The Redmond Airport has tips for travelers throughout the holiday season, including arriving at the airport two hours early and keeping presents unwrapped.