Ask Wilmington International Airport officials how ILM fared during the week of Thanksgiving and the answer is: passengers were plentiful.

One of the busiest times of the year got busier.

"The numbers did better than expected as the airlines report 12,369 enplanements," said Gary Broughton, deputy airport director, on Monday. 

That's up 19% over the same period, Monday through Sunday, last year when there were 10,400 boardings, Broughton said.
 
Preliminary numbers from the airlines last week indicated there would be more than 11,000 bookings. The airport's carriers are American Airlines, Delta Air Lines and United Airlines.

The increase during Thanksgiving week in boardings could boost ILM's numbers to the coveted 1 million-passenger milestone for the year.

While the total for November has not yet been calculated, the airport's numbers of boardings and arrivals added up to more than 880,000 year-to-date as of October.