What is 'airport theory' that's going viral on TikTok?

Travel is a popular topic on TikTok, birthing related trends such as "rawdogging," "skiplagging," and "soft travel" - but the newest one going viral may not exactly go to plan if you try it out yourself...

The "airport theory" trend is where passengers turn up to their flight 15 to 20 minutes before the flight departs in a race against time (talk about cutting it fine).

It ignores the recommendation to arrive two hours before a short-haul flight and three hours before long-haul flights, so it is not really ideal for those who want to relax in the terminal before boarding.

But it is perhaps perfect for those thrill seekers who hate waiting around and getting overstimulated in a busy airport who would rather do this and risk potentially missing their flight.

At the start of this year, TikToker Michael Dicostanzo (@michael.dicostanzo) put this theory to the test at Atlanta Hartsfield-Jackson International Airport, which is considered to be the busiest airport in the world.

He managed to get through security around seven and a half minutes in and then took a tram to his concourse, but it was only one stop away.

All in all, it took Michael just under 15 minutes to get to his gate, and so in this instance, airport theory worked for him.

However, there is always a risk of doing airport theory and not making it, as demonstrated by Jenny Kurtz (@jenny_kurtzz), who made it to her gate only for the terminal screens to say "Flight Closed."

"For those of you thinking about testing our airport theory... don't do it, missed my flight," she wrote, with her video achieving 19.4m views.

The varying results prove that there are various factors that can affect whether or not airport theory works for you, so is it worth taking that risk?

'The trend largely depends on variable factors like queue times and the distance to your gate, which can differ depending on the airport and the time of your flight,' said Amanda Parker, a Netflights expert, told The New York Post.

'Additionally, boarding typically begins 45 minutes before departure, which is half an hour earlier than the 15 minutes suggested in "airport theory," further emphasizing the risks of the trend."

Elsewhere, what is TikTok's 'soft travel' trend? and an expert advises against the 'rawdogging' travel trend.

How to join the indy100's free WhatsApp channel

Sign up to our free indy100 weekly newsletter

Have your say in our news democracy. Click the upvote icon at the top of the page to help raise this article through the indy100 rankings.