Feb. 4 (UPI) -- The world's busiest airport was even busier on Monday -- packed with travelers returning home after Super Bowl LIII in Atlanta.
The wait to get through security lines at Hartsfield-Jackson Atlanta International Airport was at least two hours early Monday, officials said. The line, which extended through the domestic terminal atrium, stunned even veteran Atlanta travelers.
"I've never seen it like this -- ever," business traveler Gudni Vilmundarson said. "I'm just shocked and surprised."
Even wait times in the usually speedy PreCheck line was about 30 minutes.
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"We got here three hours early," traveler David Aprin said. "It's a good thing. It's a cluster."
Transportation Security Administration spokesman Mark Howell told WXIA-TV the airport was fully staffed Monday and 100 TSA agents from out of town were brought in to handle to the added traffic.
TSA normally handles from 70,000 to 80,000 passengers a day, but Monday that figure was expected to be around 100,000 due to what was called "Mass Exodus Monday" in Atlanta.
Atlanta's MARTA light rail system would run 24-hour service and extra buses through Tuesday morning, officials said.
While the airport was busier than normal because of Super Bowl travelers, a piece of the game was directly blamed for adding to the delays. The Super Bowl LIII souvenir program, which contains a hologram, triggered scanning machines at the airport.
The Super Bowl programs have caused trouble at the airport before. To get ahead of the problem, the Atlanta airport warned travelers beforehand not to pack the souvenir programs in their carry-on bags.
