How to handle higher-than-ever traffic when parking at Boise Airport for holidays

Don’t be surprised if you find there are no open parking spaces next to the terminal at the Boise Airport for Thanksgiving travelers.

Thanksgiving is the busiest holiday for travelers, and officials expect more than 15,000 passengers to go through the airport on the peak days, the Tuesday and Wednesday before Thanksgiving and the Saturday, Sunday and Monday following.

Even apart from the holidays, the airport is increasingly busy. For the second straight year, airport officials expect record numbers of passengers to travel by air in 2018. Last year, more than 3.5 million passengers used the airport. Rebecca Hupp, the airport’s director, said in a news release that passenger numbers are up 11 percent this year, and she expects to see nearly 3.9 million by year end.

The airport has opened an overflow parking lot: an economy lot at Victory Road and Orchard Street. The lot will be available through Jan. 1, with free shuttles departing every 15 minutes.

Hupp urged passengers to show up two hours before their plane departs. That should give people plenty of time to park, check in and clear security, she said.

Passengers may be dropped off and picked up along the curb on both levels of the terminal, but no parking is allowed there. The cell phone waiting area before the terminal is available to wait for arriving passengers, and so is the short-term parking area across the street from the terminal.

Want to carry some holiday foods? Pies, cakes and other baked goods are allowed on a plane. Other items, including eggnog, maple syrup, preserves and jellies, should be packed in checked baggage or left home, said Andrew Coose, security director for the Transportation Safety Administration in Boise, in a news release.

This story was originally published November 15, 2018 at 7:30 PM.