The Unofficial Start of the Summer Travel Season Sees Hot Traffic Numbers at Orlando International Airport

Press Release

ORLANDO, FL. – The upcoming Memorial Day holiday is predicted to see passenger traffic heating up to near pre-pandemic levels at Florida’s busiest airport. When all of the projected numbers from the six-day travel period are compared to 2019 levels, Orlando International Airport (MCO) will see a difference of only 40,000 departures from previous records.

“Our Memorial Day holiday passenger forecast indicates that we are approaching 90 percent of pre-pandemic levels, which is a testament to the resiliency of Central Florida,” says Phil Brown, Chief Executive Officer of the Greater Orlando Aviation Authority. “A combination of factors including the vaccines, availability of seats into the market and pent-up demand all point to a potentially strong summer travel season.”

Last year MCO recorded only 45,415 departures during the six-day Memorial Day period. Based upon those numbers, this year traffic is up a stunning 550 percent over COVID-19 pandemic levels with nearly 300,000 estimated departures.

Memorial Day Traffic Departure Comparisons

2019 Actual 2020 Actual 2021 Estimated
Thursday, May 27 69,893 9,373 57,662
Friday, May 28 72,881 9,375 55,986
Saturday, May 29 68,647 6,732 57,863
Sunday, May 30 62,342 8,465 64,187
Monday, May 31 70,182 12,454 64,739
Tuesday, June 1 65,419 8,389 55,963