One million airport passengers in Myrtle Beach. Can we get more screeners, now?

The Myrtle Beach International Airport marked a significant growth milestone when more than one million passengers passed through its gates Thursday, beating the record for all of 2016 of 972,000 passengers.

While airport and tourism officials celebrated the event, Horry County Council Chairman Mark Lazarus acknowledged they have more work ahead of them in terms of meeting the needs that additional growth in the airport brings.

County officials are already in discussions with the Transportation Security Administration (TSA) about easing the wait periods and lines at security checkpoints by opening up more lanes.

“We are talking to TSA to get more personnel here because we are growing so much,” Lazarus said.

They have offered the federal agents additional office space for an expanded federal workforce in the old terminal ticketing area that is undergoing renovations.

The county council will also begin discussions during the next budget year to build a parking garage that could incorporate the car rental sales into the building.

Parking in the short-term lot was full on Thursday morning, and vehicles were directed to the long-term lot.

This story was originally published November 2, 2017 at 4:06 PM with the headline "One million airport passengers in Myrtle Beach. Can we get more screeners, now?."