Be prepared for one of the busiest days at the Edmonton International Airport

The airport can be a busy place any day of the week, but Dec. 20 is expected to be one of the busiest days of the year at Edmonton International Airport (YEG).

On Friday the airport will be "experiencing pretty big volumes" of passengers, according to Erin Isfeld, manager of corporate communications at YEG.

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Preparation is the best tool at your disposal to ensure the journey is a smooth one, she said.

"Ensure that before you get to the airport, you're checking that flight status," Isfeld said.

"Obviously, we've got winter weather across the country that we really have to take account for, and so ensure that that flight is going off on time."

Passengers can also check into their flight, book a spot in the security line and book parking ahead of time.

"What it comes down to is packing that patience, ensuring that what's going through security can go through security to make that trip a little bit smoother too," Isfeld added.

Road conditions are another factor to consider after the Edmonton area had a large snowfall Wednesday and freezing rain Friday morning. More freezing rain is expected over the weekend.

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The airport normally advises passengers to arrive two hours early for domestic flights and three hours early for international flights. Isfeld suggests tacking on an extra 30 minutes to those times due to the road conditions and the volume of people travelling.

Once you are at the airport, there are carollers, caricaturists and crafts for people to enjoy before boarding their flight.

Several passengers told CTV News Edmonton this morning that the airport didn't feel too busy yet, but they made sure to arrive early.

"We were well prepared coming in, knowing that it was going to be busy, but actually, it's not that bad," said Tony. "I don't know what's going to be like at four o'clock this afternoon (though)."

YEG anticipates seeing 7.8 million passengers in 2024, a 4.3-per-cent increase from 2023.

The airport expects to see more growth in 2025, thanks in part to new routes to Houston, Chicago and Salt Lake City, as well as increased domestic capacity from WestJet.

Dec. 23 and 27 are expected to be the other busiest travel days of the year.

With files from CTV News Edmonton's Chelan Skulski