Charlotte Douglas International Airport is gearing up for another busy travel season, so if you have a trip planned, don’t wing it. The airport shared its tips for its 18-day Spring Break season to ensure travels are as smooth as possible and cover what to expect in the terminals — including updates to ongoing developments.
Spring Break by the numbers
Spring Break travel will last 18 days starting Friday, April 11 through Sunday, April 27. The busy period aligns with many school breaks, and traffic is expected to be higher than normal during this time. During Spring Break, CLT is expecting:
- 2.9 million arriving and departing passengers to pass through, down from 4.6% from 2024
- 26,800+ flights to depart or arrive
- 592,000 fliers to begin their voyage at CLT and go through TSA, a 3% annual decrease
While Spring Break is expected to see increased traffic, the busiest days are anticipated to be Friday, April 11, Sunday, April 13 + Sunday, April 27.
Pre + post-trip updates
CLT’s Chief Operating Officer Jerome Woodard advised travelers to arrive early, which means two hours before domestic flights or three hours before international flights. He also recommends having airport arrival plans, which could include pre-booking a parking spot or scheduling a rideshare drop-off.
Once inside, TSA lines might be a bit faster than your last flight because TSA Checkpoint 2 opened last month. This increased the number of screening lanes from 17 to 21 and the new lanes are primarily used for TSA PreCheck and flight crews. The enhancement allows for an additional 600 screenings per hour.
Other changes include the location of all rideshare services, which now have a dedicated lane on the inner upper level. The upper outer lanes can continue to be used for drop-offs and pick-ups. Passengers using valet parking also have a dedicated entrance on the east side of Level 1.
Pro tip: All travelers will be required to have proper identification, but Real IDs won’t be required until the federal deadline starting Wednesday, May 7. If you don’t have one yet, start the application process.
