Baton Rouge Metro Airport predicts travel to meet or exceed pre-pandemic numbers

BATON ROUGE, La. (WAFB) - The Baton Rouge Metro Airport is seeing a continual increase in travelers and this is expected to ramp up as schools let students out for summer break. A spokesman expects this year to get very close to or exceed pre-pandemic levels.

Officials are urging you to get or renew your passport as soon as you can if you plan on traveling abroad. If you haven’t already applied for your passport, either new or renewed, you may have to wait awhile.

BTR expects international travel to be bigger than domestic flights.

“Yeah, international travel, I think that demand has that has even more pent-up demand because it took longer for international markets to open back up, you know, after the pandemic. If someone’s planning to travel the summer, he or she’s already has a passport, if not do it right away, you know, the expedited can take about seven to nine weeks, regular 10 to 13 weeks. So yeah, I would definitely try to get it right away,” said Jim Caldwell, a spokesman for the airport.

Seven to nine weeks is about twice the time it used to take.

The U.S. State Department is processing a record number of passports, up to 500,000 each week, which is about 30% more than last year at this time.

The best time to book a flight is at least 21 days in advance to get the best deal. United, Delta, and American Airlines have complete packages you can find online which is cheaper than booking air, hotel, and transportation separately.

Many airlines are also still working to combat shortages.

“Well, the obstacles are, you know, what you’ve read about, again, the pilot shortage, there’s even some aircraft delays that were a result of the supply chain issues,” said Caldwell. “So, you know, we’ve got those challenges. But yeah, I think we’re going to see more growth, we’ve certainly seen it in seating capacity, they always have up gauge to bigger aircraft. And you know, almost all the flights are the larger regional jets with first and coach class.”

Big news coming June 1, BTR will have a nonstop on American Airlines to Washington D.C. It will leave in the early morning and return in the evening.

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