Travelers should take extra steps to ensure their plans go smoothly during this anticipated busy Labor Day weekend. 

Wilmington International Airport (ILM) encourages travelers to arrive two hours prior to their departure time. Travelers can also check parking availability on ILM’s website, which is updated to show how many spaces are available in each lot. 

Holidays typically attract an increase in passengers. “Historically, over Labor Day weekend, Friday and Monday are peak travel days,” according to an ILM spokesperson. “We encourage all travelers to check flight status directly with their airline before heading to the airport. Travelers can also download their airline’s app for up-to-date flight status and alerts.”

Raleigh-Durham International Airport (RDU) is anticipating over 150,000 passengers to fly this weekend, up from 128,000 last year – a 17% year-over-year increase, according to an RDU release. Friday will be the busiest day of the weekend, according to RDU, with an estimated 32,700 travelers. 

For international flights, travelers should arrive at least three hours early at RDU. 

Hopper, a travel app, predicts Atlanta, Denver and Los Angeles will be the busiest domestic airports over the holiday weekend. Flight delays and cancellations are higher than pre-pandemic averages, according to Hopper, with an average 23% of domestic flights delayed from departing U.S. Airports – a 28% increase from August 2019. 

Cancellation rates, which represent about 3% of departing flights, doubled last month compared to August 2019, according to Hopper.