RICHMOND, Va. (CBS19 NEWS) -- The unofficial start of summer is just a couple of weeks away, and millions of Americans are expected to travel at least 50 miles for it.

Memorial Day is May 29, and AAA projects that 42.3 million people will be traveling for it.

According to a release, this is a seven percent increase over 2022, or 2.7 million more people than last year.

“This is expected to be the third busiest Memorial Day weekend since 2000, when AAA started tracking holiday travel,” said Paula Twidale, senior vice president of AAA Travel. “More Americans are planning trips and booking them earlier, despite inflation. This summer travel season could be one for the record books, especially at airports.”

Of those travelers, nearly 3.4 million are expected to fly, which is an increase of 11 percent over a year ago.

AAA says air travel over the holiday weekend will likely exceed pre-pandemic levels, with 170,000 more passengers than in 2019.

Demand for flights has been going up despite higher ticket prices, and this holiday weekend could the busiest at airports since 2005.

AAA also says Memorial Day road trips are up six percent over 2022, which is being helped by gas prices being lower than they were a year ago.

Still, car travel is expected to remain below pre-pandemic levels by about 500,000 travelers.

Additionally, more people are expected to use other modes of transportation, such as buses and training. Those numbers are expected to increase by 20.6 percent.