Atlanta Airport MARTA Station Reopens in Time for Memorial Day After $55 Million Modernization

The Metropolitan Atlanta Rapid Transit Authority has reopened the airport station after a six-week closure for a $55 million renovation. The opening comes just in time for one of the busiest weekends of the year, with daily passenger numbers expected to be record-breaking in the United States.

Reopening in time for a busy weekend

For the past six weeks, the Metropolitan Atlanta Rapid Transit Authority (MARTA) station at Hartsfield Jackson Atlanta International Airport has been closed. The resort underwent a $55 million renovation and opened just before Memorial Day weekend, often considered the unofficial start of summer. Fox 5 Atlanta reported on the reopening earlier today and spoke with Joshua Muldrow, who works near the airport.

Rendering: MARTA

Muldrow is one of the staff members at a nearby airport parking lot and has already seen the new station. He said riding the bus for six weeks wasn’t practical and residents were hoping the renovation would be nice. Muldrow said:

“We were talking on the bus saying, ‘This better be nice,’ and it’s really nice. To come in and see them doing something for us hard-working citizens here is awesome.”

According to MARTA, 7,000 to 9,000 people were transported on buses between the College Park station and the airport daily during the shutdown.

Photo: MARTA

The reopening of the airport station came at the perfect time, just before an extremely busy Memorial Day weekend, during which the airport expects 2.5 million passengers to pass through it. Last week, airport officials, Transportation Security Administration (TSA) officials, the police department and the American Automobile Association (AAA) held a joint press conference to discuss the overall strategies in place for manage the expected increase in travel.

What the big three airlines are waiting for

The airport expects an increase of almost 120,000 compared to the period last year. On Friday, expected to be the busiest day, the airport expects to screen more than 100,000 passengers.

“We will have additional officers on duty to open additional screening lanes and security checkpoints will open as early as 3 a.m. on our busiest days. We will do our best to screen standard passengers in less than 30 minutes and TSA PreCheck registered passengers in less than 10 minutes. » – Robert Spinden, Federal Security Director, TSA

America’s “big three” carriers, United Airlines (UA), Delta Air Lines (DL; headquartered in ATL), and American Airlines (AA), are poised for a busy Memorial Day weekend and summer. According to a Simple Flying report from last week, AA is increasing flights by 14% this weekend and seats by 12%. Delta announced last week that it expects a 5% increase from 2023 and will carry nearly three million passengers between May 23 and 27.

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How America’s major airlines are preparing for summer

United expects three million passengers, a 10% increase over last year’s operations. As the airline prepares for a busy period, it has highlighted ways passengers can save time and travel seamlessly. Linda Jojo, Chief Customer Officer, said:

“With an uptick in leisure travel over the summer months, we’ve found that customers who travel with the app not only save up to 30 minutes on average over the course of their travel day, but They also feel informed and empowered regarding their flights. , especially as they fly to new or unfamiliar airports for their summer vacations.

Are you flying anywhere this weekend? If yes, from where and from which airline? Let us know in the comments below.