The holiday weekend’s thousands of travelers are still returning from their destinations or trying to get where they were going before weather and computer failures grounded hundreds of flights. Another thing crowding Iowans into airport terminals is the prospect of watching a bowl game in a warmer part of the country. Today’s Independence Bowl game in Shreveport, Louisiana, has a lot of Iowans heading for greener pastures according to Des Moines airport aviation director Bob Hagedorn. He says the ISU charters will also be flying back later this week, and the Iowa charters down to Orlando. The Hawkeyes play Saturday at the Citrus Bowl in Orlando, and Hagedorn says the fans of both games have been flying out of Iowa airports for a couple days now. Hoping to reach an all-time total for yearly “emplanements,” the Des Moines airport’s glad to welcome the bowl-bound travelers. Hagedorn says the charter business is good, and sending teams to bowls is “a little bump” for their traveler totals. He says they’re sending about ten charter flights out of the Des Moines airport to both bowls, and of course some travelers will take regularly-scheduled airlines to get there. Hagedorn says despite the problems for travelers over the holiday weekend, the sports fans are heading out with optimistic attitudes. He says all the folks are happy heading out, and “hopefully if they win they’ll happy comin’ back, but either way they’ll be tired.”
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