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Houston Thanksgiving air travel to mirror last year
By Houston Business Journal 
November 19, 2008

About 1.2 million passengers are planning to make their way through George Bush Intercontinental Airport and William Hobby Airport during the 14-day Thanksgiving travel period, according to early estimates from the Houston Airport System.

HAS considers the period to be Nov. 19 through Dec. 1.

“While we won’t receive final numbers for about a month, we expect travel to be about the same as last year,” said Marlene McClinton, spokeswoman for HAS.

To meet the needs of those who don’t fly as much or will be taking children along, designated travel lanes will open up at Intercontinental on Nov. 20 at each security checkpoint. The lanes include one each for expert travelers, casual travelers and family travelers along with those who have exempt liquids such as baby formula and medication, according to Andrea McCauley, a spokeswoman with the Transportation Security Administration.

TSA recently expanded the travel lane concept to all airports across the country, she said. Hobby has been utilizing its family lane for about six months.

Travel information for both airports, including the policy for carry-on liquids, can be found at www.fly2houston.com

For those planning on flying, the Houston Airport System and Samsung Telecommunications America are launching 40 free charging stations at IAH on Nov. 20 for travelers to charge their mobile phones, laptops and other personal electronics.

The Samsung Mobile Charging Stations, outfitted with four electrical outlets per station, will be located throughout terminals A, C, D and E.

Meanwhile, the American Automobile Association expects this year to show the first decline in overall Thanksgiving travel since 2002 in both Texas and the nation as a whole.

Nearly 3.2 million Texans will be heading out for the holiday, down 1.2 percent from last year, and about 41 million Americans will travel 50 miles or more from their homes during the holiday travel period, down 1.4 percent from last year.

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