Waves of Thanksgiving holiday travelers hit area highways and airports

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Holiday travel kicked into high gear Wednesday. Waves of passengers packed airports and cars hit the roads on the final travel day before the Thanksgiving holiday.

Wednesday is traditionally one of the busiest travel days of the year. Full flights are expected throughout the day at Reagan National Airport, Washington Dulles International Airport, and BWI Marshall Airport. The Sunday following Thanksgiving is also expected to be a heavy airport traffic day as passengers take return flights home.

Holiday travelers hitting the highway can expect heavy congestion into the evening hours on Wednesday. As with air travel, roadways are expected to see high traffic volumes on the Sunday after the Thanksgiving holiday.

AAA Mid-Atlantic says 3.3 million holiday travelers from the Virginia, Maryland and Washington metro areas are traveling more than 50 miles by automobiles this Thanksgiving. The Washington metro region ranks sixth in the nation among the top traffic hotspots in America's most congested cities