Atlanta airport prepares for end of Fourth of July holiday rush

ATLANTA - As the busy Fourth of July holiday weekend wraps up, the world's busiest airport expects hundreds of thousands of people to travel through Atlanta on Sunday and Monday.

Hartsfield-Jackson Atlanta International Airport expects 364,000 people to pass through on Sunday and Monday with nearly 4 million for the entire Fourth of July travel period, which began on June 27. The airport said the large numbers are due to the fact the Fourth fell on a Thursday this year and many people took long weekends around the holiday. 

On Saturday, eight international flights were diverted to other cities during a ground stop at the airport due to weather, causing a backup in customs when all those flights were able to land.

But travelers FOX 5 talked to Sunday said, despite the crowds, their travel experience was smooth.

"I go through Atlanta not a lot, but we do travel three or four times a year, and it was really busy today," said Vicki Calhoun, who was traveling back to Atlanta from St. Louis. "It was excellent. I was quite surprised. I made sure I got to the airport really early, did TSA pre-check, but it was so fast." 

The airport does encourage travelers to get to the airport two and a half hours early for domestic flights and three hours early for international flights.

You can find information on security wait times here and parking availability here.