• Tweet
• Share
• Email
• Print

FORT MYERS, Fla.- The Thanksgiving holiday is the start to a busy season at Southwest Florida International Airport. On average during the fall, 150 flights are typically scheduled, but on Tuesday and Wednesday 220 flights are scheduled.

RSW says it expects Sunday to be the busiest travel day around the Thanksgiving holiday.

Elaine Florio and her family are getting away from the holiday. They are headed to Boston for a family reunion.

" We are going for dad's 90th birthday and are going for the Thanksgiving holiday, 2 sons, 2 daughters, 4 great-grandchildren are going from sunny Florida and are going to get cold," said Florio.

While this family is beating the traffic, things are bound to pick up. Passengers should arrive 2 hours ahead of their departure time and you can expect packed planes.

Nicole Beleske is taking the family back home to Ohio and just in time to beat the holiday rush.

"I have to get back to work and that's the number one reason and I didn't want to wait until it was right before or the day before Thanksgiving," said Beleske.

So which airports will be the most crowded?

Chicago's O'Hare and Los Angeles International will see the biggest crowds over the holiday, according to Orbitz.com.

"We are trying to get out before everyone does on Wednesda,y" said Mellissa Kassouf who is headed to Ohio.

So what holiday items are allowed passed security checkpoints? 

According to TSA.gov, wrapped gifts are not allowed and if a bag alarms security officers they may have to unwrap a gift to take a closer look inside.TSA recommends passengers wrap gifts after their flight or ship them ahead of time, to avoid the possibility of having to open them during the screening process.

For more information on liquid items like gravy and jelly visit: www.tsa.gov