This post was originally published on here
Post-holiday travel remains busy but steady as Norfolk looks back on a record-setting 2025, with growth by air and sea positioning the city as a destination.
NORFOLK, Va. — As the holiday season comes to a close, travelers across Hampton Roads are heading home by car, plane, and cruise ship, capping off one of the busiest travel periods of the year. However, beyond the post-holiday rush, 2025 may be remembered as a pivotal year for how people travel to and through Norfolk.
AAA says the days surrounding New Year’s are among the most active travel periods, as families return home after holiday gatherings. That surge places added pressure on roads, airports, and cruise terminals, all three of which play a growing role in Norfolk’s transportation landscape.
Airports see heavy holiday traffic and record-setting momentum
At Norfolk International Airport, officials said the weekend after Christmas was especially busy, offering a glimpse into how travel patterns continue to evolve.
“The weekend after Christmas specifically was really, really busy,” said Chris Jones with Norfolk International Airport. “We saw a lot of traffic here on Friday. It tested our parking in a way that we’ve not seen before.”
While the days following Christmas brought heavy volume, Jones said the pace of travel is now leveling out as people head back home.
As the year wrapped up, airport leaders were also reflecting on what they describe as a successful, though sometimes challenging, year for air travel. Despite industry disruptions and uncertainty, Norfolk International is on track for what could be its fourth consecutive year of record passenger traffic.
“We don’t know the December numbers finalized yet, just because the month just ended a couple of days ago,” Jones said. “But we believe when it’s all tallied up that we’re going to have a fourth consecutive year of record passengers here at the airport, which is great.”
That momentum was fueled by several milestone developments in 2025, including the addition of a new airline and the announcement of international service set to begin in early 2026.
“We’ve seen some real milestone events,” Jones said. “We got a new airline in JetBlue. We were able to get international service announced, which is going to start in just a couple of weeks from now.”
Airport officials say those achievements are the result of behind-the-scenes coordination and long-term planning, helping Norfolk stay competitive as both a regional hub and a destination.
Cruise Norfolk celebrates a record-breaking year
While many travelers are returning home after the holidays, 2025 also marked a milestone year for visitors choosing Norfolk as a destination, particularly by sea.
According to Nauticus, nearly 339,000 unique cruise passengers traveled through Cruise Norfolk in 2025, exceeding initial projections by about 40,000 guests. Weekly Carnival cruises brought roughly 7,000 passengers each weekend, helping establish year-round cruising in the city.
“We’ve found our groove, and we’re really excited about how smoothly it runs,” said Catherine Tatterway, Director of Marketing for Nauticus.
Cruise officials say careful planning and coordination have been key to managing the growing volume of travelers. However, they emphasize that the benefits of cruising go beyond the terminal itself.
“That growth isn’t just about getting people on and off of ships,” Tatterway said. “It’s about getting them into the city.”
The cruise terminal sits in the heart of downtown Norfolk, and officials encourage passengers to explore the area before or after their sailings.
“We’re right in downtown Norfolk, so we even encourage folks to come down and grab a bite to eat or shop or visit the Battleship Wisconsin and extend that vacation longer than your cruise,” Tatterway said.
Norfolk’s accessibility helps position it as a destination
Together, airport and cruise officials say Norfolk’s strength lies in its accessibility, by land, air, and sea. For air travelers, Norfolk International offers more than 45 nonstop destinations, an impressive level of connectivity for an airport of its size.
“For an airport of this size, over the course of a year to have 45-plus destinations is really amazing,” Jones said.
That connectivity, combined with the city’s growing tourism appeal, continues to draw visitors from across the country and around the world.
Looking ahead to 2026
AAA expects post-holiday travel to remain steady and busy in parts of Virginia through the weekend, as travelers complete their trips home. At Norfolk International Airport, officials said travelers will soon begin to notice major changes.
A new international customs facility is set to open this month, with expanded concourses and long-term construction projects planned to improve the overall passenger experience. Airport leaders say those upgrades will help support continued growth and prepare Norfolk for the next chapter in travel demand.
Now at the start of the new year, officials across transportation sectors agree on one thing: Norfolk is no longer just a place people pass through, but it’s increasingly a place they choose to visit.
