Weeks before the start of the holiday travel season, new security checkpoints at Reagan National Airport are set to begin operating this week.

       Passengers flying out of the airport Tuesday morning will be the first to try out the new lanes, part of a $1 billion package of upgrades that have being rolled out at the airport this year.

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       Reagan National Airport checkpoints to open next month, bringing faster screening times to new concourse

       The opening of the checkpoints, which will be housed in separate 50,000-square-foot buildings across from terminals B and C, will increase the number of screening lanes to 28 from the current 20 in the two terminals. However, the Transportation Security Administration will operate only 23 when the space opens Tuesday.

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       In April, airport officials celebrated the opening of a new 14-gate concourse — the much-anticipated replacement for the infamous Gate 35X.

       Airport officials say the new screening lanes, combined with the new 230,000-square-foot concourse, will make travel significantly smoother for those flying out of the airport.

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       The upgrades also position the airport to capitalize on the travel industry’s recovery. With concerns about the delta variant beginning to fade and young children eligible to be vaccinated, analysts say more people are eager to travel. National, as well as Dulles International and Baltimore-Washington International Marshall airports, have seen steady gains in passenger traffic as airlines have added flights and are expecting robust traffic this holiday season.

       An estimated 23.9 million passengers flew through National in 2019, but 2020 traffic was a fraction of that, with 7.6 million passengers. Passenger traffic this year has significantly rebounded, but is still well below pre-pandemic numbers.