WBRZ - Baton Rouge

NEW ORLEANS - With the Super Bowl over, airport officials were bracing for a massive exodus of visitors on Monday.

Spokeswoman Michelle Wilcut says about 42,000 people are expected to board planes at Louis Armstrong New Orleans International Airport - a big jump from the 33,000 who boarded after the city's last Super Bowl in 2002.

It figures to be a busy week for the airport as Mardi Gras visitors will begin arriving by Friday for the weekend of parades and parties leading to Fat Tuesday, Feb. 12.

To accommodate Monday's crunch, the airport has nearly doubled passenger screening lanes, from 14 to 25.

Wilcut says many airport restaurants planned to stay open all night because people with morning flights often go from the game or French Quarter directly to the airport.