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TSA: Sunday marks busiest day for air travel since start of the pandemic

12 News went to Sky Harbor Airport to check out the crowds.

PHOENIX — Not only is Sunday the worst day to travel in terms of pricing and delays after the Thanksgiving holiday, the Transportation Security Administration (TSA) said it's also the busiest day of air travel since the start of the pandemic. 

TSA expects 2.4 million people to fly out Sunday. That's the highest total for the year, but still below the record in 2019. 

Sunday, December 1, 2019 was the TSA’s busiest air travel day ever when 2.9 million people were screened.

People arrived extra early at Sky Harbor Airport on Sunday morning to prepare. 

RELATED: Thanksgiving travel reaches near pre-pandemic numbers nationwide

"About an hour and a half earlier than usual," one passenger said.

"I've been told by everyone to get here early just in case," said another. 

Team 12's Jess Winters caught up with one person seemingly out of breath on the way to his gate.

"It's crazy!" he said. "You got everybody running everywhere telling you where to go, I'm just ready to go."

While typically the Sunday after Thanksgiving is a high-volume travel day, this year it’s even busier because it also marks the start of Hanukkah.  

12 News reached out to Sky Harbor representatives to find out how packed the airport was this weekend. 

RELATED: Phoenix Sky Harbor food service workers continuing strike during Thanksgiving travel week

"Sunday is one of the busiest days of the year," the spokesperson said. "On an average day, Sky Harbor sees about 120,000 total passengers. Today will definitely be higher than that but we don't have an exact count."

We have checked in with TSA Phoenix as well and will update this article accordingly. 

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