Travelers who have early morning flights at Syracuse’s Hancock Airport are being strongly advised to arrive two hours before departure due to high passenger volume. Transportation Security officials say there’s been an increase in early morning flights, which means the number of passengers is now greater than it was pre-pandemic.
Ticket counters and TSA checkpoints become the most congested between 5 and 6 AM, when more than 1,000 travelers pass through. That’s beyond the checkpoint’s capacity, and when people can expect to wait in line.
On average there are 15 flights out of Hancock before 8 AM. It's advised that travelers arrive to the airport in the morning at least 2 hours in advance. Peak TSA security checkpoint times at the airport are 4:30 AM - 6 AM, 10 am - 12 PM and 4 PM to 6 PM.
The Syracuse Regional Airport Authority says the number of travelers has returned to, and even beyond, pre-pandemic levels. The biggest years for total passengers at the airport was back in 2019 with just below 2.6 million passengers. In April 2022 there was an 8.5 increase over April 2021 when 208,244 passengers came through the airport.
Destinations from Syracuse can be found here and if you're picking up or dropping off flyers, you'll want to acquaint yourself with drop-off and pick-up guidance. Any questions for the TSA can be directed to its Facebook or Twitter pages.