BOZEMAN — BOZEMAN - Holiday travel in itself can be crazy, but I don’t think travelers were expecting the parking madness at the Bozeman Yellowstone International Airport.
“Well the parking right now, we’re seeing about 50 percent more cars than we have ever seen in a peak period at the holidays, so we’ve got a lot of overflow parking lots and we’re shifting people into those lots,” explained Brian Sprenger, airport director.
And to clarify, the issue isn’t parking spaces available, it’s convenient spaces available.
“We have plenty of parking, but it’s a ways from the terminal, so we recommend people getting here early to plan for that distance to come into the terminal,” said Sprenger.
When I arrived at the airport, there was a longer line than expected in the terminal lane, but the traffic directors said it’s only like that when multiple flights land at one time. Other than that, it’s no problem.
For some, parking isn't an issue.
“It was good," said one traveler. "It was a little congested when I first pulled in, but I just waited for someone to pull out, and parked really quick. It was good.”
If your timing is right, there could be no congestion at all.
“Today is our peak departure day before the holidays, so we’re handling about 4,200 passengers departing today, about almost 9,000 total in the airport," said Sprenger.
But the holiday travel influx isn’t over yet.
“Once we get past Christmas what we will see is then all the people who have come to visit friends and family here will start returning home," said Sprenger. "We’ll have the skiers and such that will also be heading home after the holidays, so we’ll really stay pretty busy through about the third of January.”
So, the better you plan the easier parking and traveling.
