More than a quarter of a million passengers were expected to catch flights to or from LAX Saturday, part of 4.35 million travelers expected at the airport during the holiday season.

“It is the busiest day of this holiday season and one of the busiest days of the year,” Los Angeles World Airports spokeswoman Stephanie Sampson said.

About 253,000 passengers were expected to come through LAX Saturday. The overall estimate for the holiday period is 0.9 percent above last year’s record of 4.31 million passengers, according to Los Angeles World Airports, the city agency that operates LAX.

The 19-day holiday period began Friday and continues through Jan. 2.

The slowest days are predicted to be Christmas Eve, Christmas Day and New Year’s Eve, with between 205,000 and 212,000 passengers traveling on those days.

By comparison, LAX has averaged 232,000 passengers daily this year.

A total of 1.9 million vehicles are also predicted to flood the Central Terminal Area, and motorists and passengers waiting for public transportation should plan for delays of up to 30 minutes during periods of traffic congestion in the CTA, LAWA officials said.

The Southland’s smaller airports are seeing increased numbers of travelers as well. Hollywood Burbank Airport tweeted a reminder Saturday afternoon that travelers should arrive at least 90 minutes prior to their scheduled departures due to the high volume of passengers.

—City News Service

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