Travel out of the Golden Triangle is now more leisure than business

GOLDEN TRIANGLE, Miss. (WCBI) – It’s another sign of the comeback from COVID, people are flying the friendly skies again.

Golden Triangle Regional Airport is seeing much improved numbers over this time last year.

Flights from GTRA to Atlanta are fully booked again, and ticket sales are on par with pre-pandemic numbers.

But the passengers are changing.

In 2019, 80 percent of travel from GTR was business-related and about 20 percent leisure.

Those numbers have flip-flopped. 75 percent of passengers are now flying for fun.

“This weekend we expect travel to be extremely busy, both here at the Golden Triangle Airport, as well as nationwide. We have noticed over the last 2 months a significant increase in leisure travelers,” said Mike Hainsey, Executive Director of Golden Triangle Regional Airport. “Most of our flights are running almost full if not all the way. So, this weekend everyone is just ready to get out.”

Part of the business slowdown is because some flights to the Northeast, West, and Overseas are still restricted.