DAUPHIN COUNTY, Pa. — Thanksgiving is typically the busiest time of year to travel, however this year things are quite different because of COVID-19.
Despite numbers not comparable to previous Thanksgivings and health experts encouraging people to limit travel -- millions of Americans are still heading home for the holidays.
Harrisburg International Airport is expecting a big drop from 2019 with roughly 14,000 travelers passing through this Thanksgiving week. Last year they had 31,000 people traveling leading up to Thanksgiving.
Scott Miller a spokesman for HIA said they have taken a hit with the significant decrease in travel. He said some days they start to get more people booking flights, but numbers are nowhere close to pre-pandemic.
They have since implemented a variety of extra cleaning protocols to make sure people traveling through HIA have a safe and comfortable experience.
- All passengers and employees are encouraged to wear face coverings whenever inside the airport
- Hand sanitizer stations and surface cleaning wipes are placed throughout the terminal building for use
- Barrier are installed in all high traffic public interfaces areas
- Public areas including: airline ticket counters, gates, restrooms, bag claims, etc. are being disinfected on a regular basis
- Surface areas and touch points are being disinfected multiple times each day
- Social distancing markers are placed throughout the airport to remind us to give each other and respect each other’s space
- Face masks and other Personal Protective Equipment are now available in the airport if you leave anything at home
- TSA is allowing one liquid hand sanitizer container up to 12 ounces per passenger in carry-on bags until further notice.
Miller says they've had an influx of phone calls about people asking if they can travel and what is needed to travel.
He says travel guidelines and recommendations have been issued but there is no travel ban. Things will vary state by state but the he says the best thing to do before heading to the airport, is to be prepared.
Travelers should look at their state guidelines, as well as the guidelines or restrictions in place at their destination, and review recommendations from the CDC.
Pennsylvania is requiring anyone coming into the state to have a negative COVID-19 test within 72 hours of entering the Commonwealth, or they must quarantine for 14 days.
The weekend leading up to Thanksgiving, the Transportation Security Administration (TSA) said they screened three million people at U.S. airports. They said Sunday was the busiest travel day they've seen since March with a total of 1,047,934 people who went through airport security checkpoints.
TSA is asking all passengers to wear masks and socially distance. If you go through a screening process, you will see more barriers in place to keep workers and travelers safe. There's also new technology being used in some airports that won't require liquids to be removed from bags.
If you are concerned about transporting Thanksgiving food while flying, TSA has a list of what can be approved through security checkpoints, and what should be carefully wrapped in your checked luggage.
Just remember to be respectful of others, don't forget to monitor your health while traveling, and wear a mask.