The whole nation will seemingly be on the move this holiday weekend, but travelers can expect especially busy traffic in and out of Las Vegas, Los Angeles and Atlanta airports come Friday.
Airline research firm Hopper.com has crunched the numbers and come up with the top 20 busiest airports for July 4th weekend.
It says Sin City will be busiest of all for air traffic, followed by Los Angeles and Atlanta, and other major airline hubs such as Chicago and Denver will likely be hectic too.
Hopper’s chief data scientist Patrick Surry says holiday weekend airfares have risen about 15% compared to 2013 and most of the top destinations are unchanged from last year.
Hopper based its numbers on trips already booked and query search data gleaned from GDS sources.
The analysis covers June 27 through July 6, with the busiest day for air travel expected on Friday July 4.
However Mother Nature could also wreak havoc for holiday travelers on the East Coast.
Tropical Storm Arthur is strengthening off the coast of Florida and could hit landfall in the Carolinas late Thursday according to the National Hurricane Center.
Hopper’s top 20 busiest airports for July 4 holiday travel:
1. Las Vegas (LAS)
2. Los Angeles (LAX)
3. Atlanta (ATL)
4. Chicago (ORD)
5. Denver (DEN)
6. Newark (EWR)
7. New York (LGA)
8. Orlando (MCO)
9. San Francisco (SFO)
10. Dallas/Fort Worth (DFW)
11. New York (JFK)
12. Boston (BOS)
13. Seattle (SEA)
14. Baltimore/Washington, DC (BWI)
15. Fort Lauderdale (FLL)
16. Minneapolis (MSP)
17. Detroit (DET)
18. Tampa (TPA)
19. Philadelphia (PHL)
20. Phoenix (PHX)
