Start of Memorial Day weekend marks busy travel day at Myrtle Beach International Airport

MYRTLE BEACH, S.C. (WMBF) – Friday marked one of the busiest days of the year at Myrtle Beach International Airport.

As people began flying in and out for Memorial Day weekend, some flights were delayed due to weather impacting parts of the east coast.

“Well, they keep delaying it and then maybe they won’t,” said Cynthia Ellis, who arrived at MYR several hours early before traveling to see her daughter in Boston. “I took the Lyft because it’s cheaper and the parking lots are full.”

Speaking of the parking lots, long-term parking was at capacity, with travelers diverted to overflow lots. Officers from the Horry County Police Department were seen on foot patrol with a K-9 as standard procedure.

Rae Majors-Wildman flew in from North Carolina and said her flight had some issues.

“The flight was crazy,” she said. “In Charlotte, we had a lot of delays from we had really bad storms and apparently the plane that I had, it was coming from Savannah, and it had a bird strike.”

Officials with the airport said they have been preparing for their busy season for a while.

“Summer is always going to be the busiest time of the year. It’s really related to the visiting traffic that comes in. A lot of visitors coming to the beach between Memorial Day weekend all the way through Labor Day,” said MYR spokesperson Ryan Betcher.

The summer is expected to be busy for MYR, coming off the airport seeing its highest number of passengers ever in 2021.

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