CHARLESTON, W.Va. — Summer travel season is here again, and West Virginia International Yeager Airport has a few reminders they want to share before you board a plane on to your next getaway.

Yeager Airport Chief Marketing Officer Paige Withrow said Breeze Airways seasonal flights to Tampa, Florida and Myrtle Beach, South Carolina will return to CRW May 1st and will run on Mondays and Fridays.

After a successful summer season with those new flights last year, Withrow said they are excited to see Breeze continue to grow and expand at CRW.

Paige Withrow

“Everyone loves to travel to Myrtle Beach and Tampa here in our area, so we’re very excited to have those routes back again, they were successful last year and we anticipate that they will be successful again this summer,” Withrow said.

The seasonal flights through Breeze will run until the end of August.

The airline also has year-round flights they offer at CRW to Newark, New Jersey and Orlando, Florida.

However, a big reminder the airport continues to try and emphasize to passengers is the deadline to get their REAL ID-compliant driver’s license, which is May 7th.

Passengers will no longer be able to board a domestic flight without a REAL-ID, a passport, or a couple of other relevant documents that you can see listed on the DHS website. The REAL-ID has a gold star in the upper right hand corner of the driver’s license and is meant to further strengthen airport security.

Withrow said with the summer travel season right around the corner, it’s extra important to be aware of the need to get your REAL-ID in the next 18-days, or have other plans to show another acceptable form of identification when boarding a flight.

“Especially people who will be hopping on those seasonal Breeze flights, you will need to have a REAL ID or a passport to travel,” she said.

REAL ID

You must make an in-person visit to your local DMV to acquire a REAL-ID and bring several documents along with you such as your birth certificate, social security card, and a couple proofs of residency.

For those planning to travel internationally this summer, Withrow said they will be hosting a second Global Entry enrollment event at the airport May 5th-8th.

The Global Entry program makes entering back into the United States quicker and more efficient and is run through the U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP) agency.

Withrow said enrollment for that program is now open, but you must log into your account to do so, and you must already have conditional approval.

“So, if you have the conditional approval status, you can go ahead now and book your appointment anytime between May 5th through the 8th,” she said. “That will be a pop-up enrollment event at our U.S. Customs facility here at CRW.”

She said Global Entry is nice to have if you plan to travel internationally, and a good perk about it is that you also get the TSA Pre-Check enrollment along with it.

“So, if you don’t have TSA Pre-Check either, this is a good time to hit both of those things at once,” she said. “Those Global Entry enrollment appointments are hard to come by, the interview for the Global Entry in West Virginia is hard to come by, so we’re very thankful they are offering that here at CRW.”

On May 19th-26th, the USA Cycling Pro-Road National Championships will make its return to Charleston for the second year.

Withrow said they want to remind people of this event, because last year Greenbrier Street leading up to the airport was closed for a couple of days during the tournament.

She said they will make sure to post on their social media if they have any road closures that could affect airport traffic this year during the USA Cycling event.

“We’ll make sure this year to give everyone a heads up if they need to take some extra time heading to the airport on those dates,” she said.

Along with that, Withrow said in addition to the influx in travelers they already see coming to the Mountain State during the summer travel season anyways, they also anticipate an increased influx during the cycling event.

“May and the summertime in general is always a busy time for us, but we will see some additional travel for this event, as well, so make sure if you are coming to the airport during this time that you come a little bit earlier than you normally would have.”