Palm Springs International Airport Expects Record Thanksgiving Travel

PALM SPRINGS — Palm Springs International Airport officials expect Thanksgiving
passenger numbers to set new records this year.

They’re asking travelers to arrive two and a half hours early to catch their flight if they need to check luggage and 90 minutes early with only a carry-on. The airport also encourages travelers to consider taking a taxi or Uber/Lyft to catch their flight.

Palm Springs International Airport has been on a record-setting trend this year. Airport officials stated that this Thanksgiving will be even busier than last year with 20% more passengers expected to fly out of PSP.

“We’re planning for a very busy Thanksgiving weekend and tourist season,” said Harry Barret, Executive Director of Aviation. “We had our busiest holiday season ever in 2021, and this year we have more flights and available seats than last year, so we’re asking travelers to plan ahead and arrive early so they don’t miss their flight.”

PSP expects these trends to continue throughout the entire tourist season thanks to more flights and larger planes with more seats being added since last year. The Thanksgiving travel period, typically Wednesday through Sunday, is expected to have nearly 20% more passengers passing through PSP than in 2021. The airport is planning for more than 30,000 people to depart from PSP during this time, and the day before Thanksgiving will be the busiest with over 7,600 people flying out that day. Which is almost 24% more than the day before Thanksgiving last year.

“The airport will be busier than many locals have ever seen it,” said Barret. “We’ve expanded our overflow lot and added over 100 spaces to accommodate growing demand. However, we also ask travelers to consider taking alternate forms of transportation to the airport because we expect demand for parking to exceed the capacity of our lots.”

Image Sources

  • Palm Springs International Airport: YouTube