DES MOINES, Iowa — Whether travelers were getting ready to leave for spring break or head back home after their vacation, the Des Moines International Airport had a steady stream of flyers taking to the air on Sunday.
"We're on spring break. I'm going back to school. My school starts a little later. So heading back to school, have classes tomorrow morning, get to wake up and do some history of modern philosophy," said Logan Bateman.
According to AAA, 23% of Iowans have spring break plans this season, up from 19% last year. And they add international travel for the season is up 30% compared to 2022. Fortunately, travelers said they haven't had to fight any crowds to get where they're going.
"Just the normal traffic, quick from the hotel to the airport," said Kelly Clausen.
"We had a shuttle that brought us from the airport and back to and we're here really early, and we're used to being in big crowds back in Florida. So this was not much of anything," said Stephanie Mitchell.
The TSA is expecting a higher-than-usual volume of spring break flyers, with totals potentially exceeding pre-pandemic levels. Flyers were just glad to have the chance to spread their wings once again.
"Not really a spring break person. But the sooner I can get out of the weather and into the warm, I'm a happy woman," Clausen said.
According to the TSA, January 2023 was the first full month where travel volumes exceeded the same time period in 2019, before the COVID-19 pandemic.