OREANDA-NEWS. Charlotte Douglas International Airport is expecting large crowds through next week as passengers head home for the holidays. Airlines report flights will be at near capacity. For a stress-free experience, CLT suggests travelers plan ahead, be prepared and arrive early for their flights.

Projected passenger numbers for travelers originating their flight at CLT are as follows:
* Friday, December 19 - 25,764 passengers
* Saturday, December 20 - 24,715 passengers
* Sunday, December 21 - 22,481 passengers
* Monday, December 22 - 23,127 passengers
* Tuesday, December 23 - 24,956 passengers
* Wednesday, December 24 - 15,700 passengers
* Thursday, December 25 - 15,500 passengers  

That's in addition to the 100,000 passengers who connect through CLT each day.  

Contributing to that number, approximately 3,700 troops in basic training at Fort Jackson in SC will depart CLT Thursday, December 18 - Saturday, December 20 for their two week holiday leave known as Operation Exodus. The bulk of soldiers - approximately 3,000 - will depart the Airport on Saturday, December 20.

The Christmas holidays are the second busiest time of the year for Charlotte Douglas. Thanksgiving is the first. Last month, holiday passenger traffic set records. From Tuesday, November 25 - Sunday, November 30 - 125,619 local passengers originated their trip at CLT. It was a 2.2 percent jump from last year at that time.

Security checkpoints are scheduled to open at 4 a.m. Ticket counters will begin greeting customers between 4:30 and 4:45 a.m. Passengers, as a reminder, should check with their airlines for any weather related questions.

Parking will be in high demand Friday, December 19 - Friday, December 26. Drivers are encouraged to use the new Hourly Deck for picking up and dropping off passengers. It is free for the first hour and within walking distance to the terminal. Customer service representatives are positioned inside and outside the deck to assist passengers. Access to and from the terminal is available on level 2. Since the deck opened on Thursday, November 20, 43,000 transactions have been made.