2024 ushered in travel numbers that Tucson International Airport (TUS) hasn’t seen since 2008.
“We’re going to have over 4 million passengers this year, which speaks to the national trends that more people are getting out and traveling. 250,000 more people are using the airport this year than last year,” said Austin Wright, chief communications officer for the Tucson Airport Authority.
Right now this follows a growing trend nationwide, after records were set over the summer season .
AAA Arizona says, these trends were something the country was seeing before COVID.
“We were locked down for a year or two, and there was all this pent up demand for travel afterward,” said Julian Paredes, a spokesperson for AAA Arizona. “2023 was probably the most normal year, you know, post-pandemic, and then 2024 kind of carried over those trends.”
TUS is expecting over 4 million passengers this year, clearing 2023 by over 250,000 passengers.
But more travelers are hitting the road,s too.
And Paredes says the reason more people are hitting the roads starts at the pumps.