DENVER — The Denver International Airport is gearing up for the busy summer travel season, which officially kicks off this weekend.
DIA anticipates 1.2 million people to pass through between Thursday and next Tuesday, with about 450,000 people expected on Thursday and Friday.
"I'm a little nervous," Suzanne Albany said as she looked at the long security lines Thursday. "It's a lot more people right now."
According to airport officials, there are 32 TSA screening lanes available for passengers, including additional TSA PreCheck and standard lanes at the North and South Security Checkpoints.
"It is huge, like humongous," Nikkita Jacobson said when the security check wait time was 33 minutes. "I've never seen a line this big."
Wait times throughout the late afternoon and early evening fluctuated quite a bit.
At noon, the wait time was 7 minutes. At 1 p.m., it was 12 minutes. At 2 p.m., the wait climbed to 20 minutes. By 2:45 p.m., it was more than 30 minutes.
Officials say passengers should arrive at the airport two hours before their flight and always check their flight status.
As of 5:30 p.m. Thursday, more than 200 flights had been delayed and nearly 20 had been canceled.
