ORLANDO, FL. – After a year of staying close to home during the pandemic, Americans exercised their freedom of travel this Memorial Day holiday, pushing traffic figures at Orlando International Airport (MCO) to near pre-pandemic levels. Over 360,000 travelers departed MCO during the six-day holiday period as compared to only 55,000 last year. That is a nearly 500 percent increase. When compared to 2019 record levels, Memorial Day traffic at MCO was off 12 percent.
“This strong kickoff to the summer travel season is encouraging,” says Phil Brown, Chief Executive Officer of the Greater Orlando Aviation Authority. “However, the key for our long term success is how sustainable these traffic levels will be over the summer.”
Further destination expansion and seat capacity growth by the airlines is helping to build sustainable traffic numbers. Starting today, MCO will welcome its first transatlantic flight back to Central Florida since the pandemic when Lufthansa resumes limited operations with federal restrictions from Germany.
Memorial Day 2021 Traffic Numbers
2019 Departures | 2020 Departures | 2021 Departures | |
Thursday, May 27 | 69,893 | 9,373 | 55,159 |
Friday, May 28 | 72,881 | 9,375 | 61,050 |
Saturday, May 29 | 68,647 | 6,732 | 59,691 |
Sunday, May 30 | 62,342 | 8,465 | 60,826 |
Monday, May 31 | 70,182 | 12,454 | 64,499 |
Tuesday, June 1 | 65,419 | 8,389 | 58,801 |
TOTALS | 409,364 | 54,788 | 360,026 |
2022 Charlotte Douglas International Airport Report of Achievement
Giving back to the community is central to what Charlotte Douglas International Airport and its operator, the City of Charlotte Aviation Department, is about, and last year was no different.
Throughout 2022, while recovering from the COVID-19 pandemic, we continued our efforts to have a positive impact on the Charlotte community. Of particular note, we spent the year sharing stories of how Connections Don't Just Happen at the Terminal - from creating homeownership and employment opportunities to supporting economic growth through small-business development and offering outreach programs to help residents understand the Airport better.
This whitepaper highlights the construction projects, initiatives, programs and events that validate Charlotte Douglas as a premier airport.
Download the whitepaper: 2022 Charlotte Douglas International Airport Report of Achievement.