Holiday travelers take off from BWI on Christmas Eve

As Santa Claus roamed the concourses at BWI Thurgood Marshall Airport handing out candy canes and holiday cheer Saturday afternoon, travelers from all across the country strolled through the airport either arriving or on their way to their holiday weekend destinations.

For many families in Anne Arundel County and across the country, a long-distance trip either for an extended vacation or to stay with family has become as much of a tradition as presents under the Christmas tree on Dec. 25.

According to Airlines for America, the industry trade organization for the leading U.S. airlines, about 45.2 million Americans were forecasted to fly across the globe between Dec. 16 and Jan. 5. The estimate is an increase of 3.9 percent over last year.

"An improving economy and reduced airfares remain the driving force behind the growth seen in air travel," Airlines for America Vice President John Heimlich said in a statement.

Christmas Eve is typically one of the lighter days for travelers, but there was still a steady stream of people checking their baggage and printing tickets in anticipation of their domestic flights at the Linthicum airport.

Rusty Vaughn, a 75-year-old from Odenton, stood near the ticketing section in Concourse A, searching for his wife as they prepared to fly to Albuquerque, New Mexico, for a long weekend.

"We started going there a few years ago. We have a house out there and, eventually, we'd like to live there," Vaughn said.

He and his wife, Pat Simons, enjoy going out to the remote areas of New Mexico and Utah when they can, he added.

The two will enjoy a long weekend, as they and many other Americans regularly take the week off after Christmas and return to work in the new year.

Simons, who works for College Summit, a nonprofit focused on increasing college enrollment, said she was looking forward to one thing in particular.

"A week off," she said.

She added that 2016 was a busy year for her, but in her field "it's always a busy year."

On the other side of the airport, 57-year-old Bruce Walker sat outside the newly constructed D/E Connector, which connects the D and E concourses, and allows domestic and international flights at both.

Walker was waiting to take his flight into Vancouver, British Columbia, where he used to live before moving from the Canadian city to Baltimore County more than 30 years ago.

"We usually try to get the crew back together," Walker said, adding that many relatives and high school friends still reside in Vancouver.

He said the D/E Connector makes travel "more civilized" than his typical routine for the holidays, which involved taking Air Canada to Toronto.

The three all chose a day when lines are the shortest both at check-in and through security.

According to BWI spokeswoman Kim Davidson, all of the airport's garages were at capacity except for the hourly lot.

It was in large part due to Friday's traffic, which Airlines for America said was expected to be one of the two busiest travel days between Dec. 16 and Jan. 5. The trade organization said Friday's passenger traffic could be as high as 2.4 million for the leading airlines across the country, an increase of 200,000 over the daily average.

As Davidson helped push around a cart full of candy canes for the airport's Santa to hand out to the day's fliers, she said Saturday paled in comparison to the day before.

"Yesterday was a zoo," Davidson said.

It's why Walker has gotten his yearly trip down to a science.

"The (Dec.) 23rd is insane. This isn't bad. Christmas Day is insane," Walker said.