Middletown, Pa. - A couple of days before Christmas at any airport there's always lots of standing in line, sitting around, passing time on the phone and maybe even waiting in a cold car by the curb.

But it's all worth it, because the warm hugs will be here before you know it.

"My parents are flying in from Texas," said Amber Snyder of Carlisle as she passed the time in a rocking chair at Harrisburg International Airport. "They're coming for the holidays, for Christmas."

"We're going to see my family in Ohio," said Ryan Saulter of Lancaster as he headed for the gate with his wife and children. "We're going to Waseun, Ohio which is in the very northwest corner of the state."

While the weather around here is good, some folks heading west from HIA were looking at delays.

"We've been visiting Grandma and Grandpa for a week and now we're going back home," said Kimberly Graves of Portland, Oregon as she waited with her family. "It sounds like Chicago is frozen in and that's where we have to go first."

The folks in charge at HIA said this is probably the busiest day of the Christmas holiday season. About 18,000 passengers will pass through here during the week.

"I'm headed to Arkansas to visit my family for Christmas," said Amanda Kidd of Manheim as she headed to her gate.

Another busy time at HIA will be next week as Penn State fans fly south to the Capitol One Bowl in Florida. But it won't be as busy as last year's Rose Bowl game. There were seven charter flights from HIA last year. There are only two Penn State charters this year.

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