SEATTLE – Presidents Day holiday weekend is going to be busy at Seattle-Tacoma International Airport with more than a quarter million travelers projected for the two peak travel days. Sea-Tac will welcome a projected 132,000 travelers on Thursday, Feb. 16 and 140,000 on Friday, Feb. 17. Those totals are around 3,000 more per day than the same two days before Presidents Day in 2016 and are close to the daily peak totals the airport welcomed during the most-recent Christmas season.
The Port of Seattle recommends travelers arrive early, especially if checking large items like golf bags or skis. Since Presidents Day 2016, Sea-Tac has added additional customer service staff (Pathfinders) and has re-configured security checkpoint lines to help speed up the process. Sea-Tac has also worked closely with the Transportation Security Administration in requesting more staff and K9’s for 2017.
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Some other tips to navigate Presidents Day weekend at Sea-Tac:
- Think Opposite! During peak periods, for pick-ups use the departure (upper ticketing level). For drop-offs, use the arrivals drive (lower bag claim) and travelers only have to go up one level to ticketing. Busiest times are mornings for departures (upper) and evenings for arrivals (lower).
- Use Sound Transit Link light rail or drop off/pick up at a station. Sound Transit Link light rail is an easy and environmentally friendly way to avoid airport traffic. The trip from Downtown Seattle takes around 30 minutes, which beats rush hour traffic. Another option: drop off/pick up at a Sound Transit station. The nearby Angle Lake Station (200th Street and International Blvd) offers free parking (up to 24 hours) and is an easy meet up point.
Presidents Day continues Sea-Tac’s robust passenger totals, which have set records for six years in a row. In 2016, Sea-Tac served 45.7 million passengers, an 8 percent increase – 3.4 million more than in 2015. The 8 percent growth rate is Sea-Tac’s largest in the past 20 years, only topped by 2015’s 12.9 percent increase. Sea-Tac projects a 4 percent increase in passenger totals for 2017.
About Seattle-Tacoma International Airport
Operated by the Port of Seattle, Seattle-Tacoma International Airport (SEA, KSEA) is ranked as the 9th busiest U.S. airport, serving more than 45.7 million passengers and more than 366,000 metric tons of air cargo in 2016. With a regional economic impact of more than $16.3 billion in business revenue, Sea-Tac generates 171,796 jobs (109,924 direct jobs) representing over $2.8 billion in direct earnings and more than $565 million in state and local taxes. Twenty-eight airlines serve 81 non-stop domestic and 24 international destinations.
