NASHVILLE, Tenn. (WKRN) — Over 20,000 people traveled out of Nashville International Airport on Sunday, a day that airport officials say was the busiest travel day since the start of the COVID-19 pandemic.

According to BNA, the last time the airport saw that many people departing was March 2020. Officials tell News 2 that there is “renewed confidence in travel as vaccinations continue to be on the rise.”

The news also follows a new Simple Flying report that shows Nashville’s passenger volume increased 114 percent in the last decade with an additional ten million passengers.

“BNA has been the fastest growing airport in terms of passengers in the country in the last several years, before the pandemic, of course,” said Tom Jurkovich, Vice President of Communications and Community Affairs at BNA. “We’re about 50 percent of what we were last year at this point, but better than most airports, frankly. We really think it’ll return to that aggressive robust growth in a year or two, for sure.”

In 2019, Nashville International Airport saw 18.3 million passengers and airport staff expects passenger traffic to grow to more than 23 million passengers by 2032.

“Between population, increased economic activity, tourism and a really well run, efficient, accessible airport, you see more airlines more air service more routes and better fares,” Jurkovich said.

It shows. In 2020 alone, BNA announced 31 new routes, some 41 routes have been added since 2019.

American Airlines, Allegiant and Southwest all announced new routes with flights to Austin, Key West, Greensboro, Myrtle Beach and Long Island so far in 2021.

Jurkovich says they anticipate more passengers flying out of BNA in the months and years ahead, and it’s why they’re expanding and renovating right now.

That expansion, ‘BNA Vision,’ includes the new Concourse D, a six-story terminal garage, added baggage areas, security, gates and more.

“When this phase is completed in late 2023, we can cut those final ribbons and you’ll see a new and improved airport that can accommodate even more growth for Nashville and Middle Tennessee.”

According to a recent study, in 2019 alone, BNA generated more than $8.1 billion in total economic impact, supported more than 76,000 jobs in the region and produced more than $443 million in state, local and federal taxes.