Three of Northwest Arkansas National Airport’s four busiest days have occurred since Friday.
Boosted by the swell of out-of-towners headed home after attending the annual Walmart shareholders’ meeting and related events, XNA experienced the busiest day in its 25 years on Friday, June 2.
Friday saw 5,025 people pass through the Transportation Security Administration checkpoint at the airport. It was an incredible increase, almost 800 people more than what had been XNA’s best day (4,210 on Oct. 15, 2019).
XNA saw another crush of travelers pour in to depart on Saturday, June 3 as 4,982 people were screened by TSA. Saturday now sits as XNA’s second busiest day.
The fourth busiest day came Sunday, June 4 as more of those Walmart shareholders’ event attendees headed home.
Many of the airport’s busiest days over the past few years came in June and can be attributed to the thousands of people who attend the Walmart events. However, this weekend’s numbers were bumped up by college baseball fans who traveled to Northwest Arkansas to see Texas Christian, Arizona and Santa Clara play in the NCAA’s Fayetteville Regional.
The Walmart meetings always amp up what happens at XNA. A review of TSA checkpoint numbers since January 2019 shows 8 of XNA’s 25 busiest days aligned with the Walmart attendees.
While not all of the people who pass through the TSA checkpoint are passengers, it is a strong indication of how many people are boarding flights. In 2022, about 6% of those moving through XNA’s checkpoint were people who work at the airport and others who were not passengers.
The Walmart events and the large number of travelers who fly in to attend them kicks of what may be a record-breaking summer at XNA. June and July are typically the airport’s busiest months of the year.
