Savannah HHI International Airport preparing for busy travel season

SAVANNAH, Ga. (WTOC) - We are days away from St. Patrick’s Day.

That means we will start to see visitors from all over coming to the Hostess City soon.

The airport was up about 30 percent this January compared to previous years, up about 25 percent in February and once again could be heading for record breaking numbers this spring and summer.

They always offer more flights this time of year - about five more flights per day.

But this year, those numbers might not be as drastic as some airlines have just started using larger aircraft to take passengers to and from Savannah.

With St. Patrick’s Day is just around the corner – airport officials are expecting up to 50,000 people to travel through the Savannah-Hilton head International Airport on the holiday weekend alone.

They are ready for the influx of visitors and to have a little fun – they will be dying their fountain green at the end of this week and getting all their green ready to go.

“We have some little photo ops set up and ready to go for next week, we’ve ordered beads, we do all the normal things that other businesses do, it is just really fun for us to be the first person to great visitors when they are coming in and they get to walk right in the square and do that photo op with a leprechaun, we’ve got one of those running around,” said Lori Lynah with the Savannah Hilton Head International Airport.

It’s not just at the airport. The Georgia Department of Transportation is also preparing for increased travelers on the road for St. Patrick’s Day. They will not be doing any lane closures on main highways starting at noon on Thursday March 16 through Saturday March 18 at 10 p.m.

If you are driving to the airport – remember to give yourself extra time as the garages have already started filling up for the year and you might have to use overflow parking. And if you are catching a flight soon – we have some tips from up from the TSA to make your trip smooth.