McGhee Tyson Airport sees record number of departing passengers the day after UT vs. UT game
Officials with the airport said they are waiting on audited numbers but saw more than 10,000 passengers Sunday, breaking their previous record.
Ainslee Raasch
KNOXVILLE, Tenn. — It was a big weekend for Knoxville: A historic SEC matchup, a presidential visit and thousands of people packing into Neyland Stadium.
It was also a big weekend for McGhee Tyson Airport, where officials said they saw a record number of passengers.
Vice President of Public Relations Becky Huckaby said the airport broke a record and, while they are waiting on audited numbers, she said McGhee Tyson hosted more than 10,000 passengers on Sunday.
The airport’s former one-day record was about 8,600 departing passengers — set just one week ago.
Airport officials told 10News over the weekend several factors are driving the expected surge, including fans heading home after the Tennessee-Texas football game, additional flights, fall break travel and continued growth at the airport.
Southwest Airlines added two flights from Austin to Knoxville on Thursday and two more on Friday for the football weekend. Three nonstop return flights from Knoxville to Austin were scheduled for Sunday.
“We came here to watch the University of Texas play Tennessee,” one Texas traveler said on Sunday.
The University of Tennessee didn’t quite clinch a win over Texas on Saturday, but people poured out in droves for the battle of the UTs.
McGhee Tyson is also the same airport where Air Force One landed on Saturday for President Trump’s visit to Rocky Top.
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