Air traffic controllers were turning incoming planes away from Bush Field by 8 a.m. Friday as the airport reached peak capacity for the second day in a row.

Planes arriving at the airport after 8 a.m. went into holding patterns about 150 miles from the field, waiting for someone else to take off and open space on the ground. Commercial carriers continued to shuttle passengers back and forth, but private and corporate planes had to wait in line.

``The limiting factor is not us,'' Bush Tower chief Mike Gunn said with a laugh. ``The limiting factor is concrete. Is there enough concrete for everyone to park?''

By noon, 121 planes were on the ground at Bush Field, and at Daniel Field, which still had space available, workers tallied 100 planes. Some aircraft could be routed from Bush to Daniel Field, but the smaller Daniel Field doesn't have long enough runways to allow larger planes to land safely, officials said.

It was the second day in a row Bush Field was gridlocked, and it happened two hours earlier than on Thursday. There is historical precedent for the crush of aircraft: Air traffic controllers also turned away airplanes during the Friday of Masters Week 1996, the first time ever, Mr. Gunn said.

Air traffic controllers choreographed an intricate dance of takeoffs and landings as Bush Field workers calculated which planes had space to land and park. Because the planes are parked wingtip to wingtip, and some planes are larger than others, the traffic jam wasn't a simple equation of one landing for one takeoff, said Bill Thompson, operations manager for Bush Field Aviation.

It's more like waiting in line at a restaurant: How big is your party?

``We've had to hand-massage each arrival,'' he said.

Traditionally, Friday is the second-busiest day of the year for the airport as spectators arrive for the weekend rounds of the Masters tournament and others leave after a week of golf, officials said. The busiest day is Sunday, the final day of the Masters, when everyone tries to go home at once.

Air traffic has been significantly busier this year than Masters Week 1996, which, in turn, was busier than 1995, said Mr. Gunn, who couldn't offer an explanation for the increase. Many officials expected less traffic into Augusta after the Augusta National Golf Club limited access to practice round tickets in the early 1990s.

Inside the terminal, waves of spectators arrived from Atlanta and Charlotte as golf bags rolled off the luggage conveyor belt. Drivers stood brandishing signs for an alphabet soup of companies - GE, 3M, ValueRx, SAP. Outside, Cadillacs, limousines and minivans waited beside pale-yellow cabs to whisk passengers away to hotels or the golf course.

Passengers milled in the baggage claim area, some still in suits, others casual in khakis, polos and sports coats.

Delta airlines scheduled 6,250 passengers for the week of April 7-14, a 30 percent increase over normal traffic, airline officials said. Because of the increase in private and corporate planes, the airport sees a total traffic increase of about 200 percent, Mr. Gunn said.