IE's 2 International Airports Prep For Record Thanksgiving Travel

INLAND EMPIRE, CA — A record number of Southern Californians — and Americans across the country — are expected to travel this Thanksgiving holiday, and that means more traffic at two Inland Empire international airports: Ontario International Airport (ONT) and Palm Springs International Airport (PSP).

Both facilities are considered gems for travelers who look to avoid the mobs that are typically found at other nearby international airports like Los Angeles, Orange and San Diego.

But ONT and PSP have already reported record 2024 travel numbers.

On Monday, ONT officials announced the airport's 44th consecutive month of year-over-year increases in its busiest October ever. The Southern California gateway reported 642,853 travelers in October, 6% more than October 2023. On a year-to-date basis, ONT welcomed 5.8 million passengers, nearly 11% more than the same period last year.

Air cargo volume jumped, too, at ONT — almost 32% in October 2024 compared to the year prior, officials said.

" ... word is out that Ontario International Airport is the airport of choice in Southern California," said Atif Elkadi, chief executive officer of the Ontario International Airport Authority.

In January, PSP officials announced the airport broke its all-time record for passenger traffic with more than 3.2 million passengers in 2023.

The total passenger count for 2023 came in at 3,237,325, surpassing the previous record set one year prior in 2022 by nearly 9% when 2,981,844 traveled through PSP.

"We eagerly anticipate exceeding expectations in 2024 ...," Harry Barrett, Jr., PSP's executive director of aviation, said at the time.

Both ONT and PSP offer easy-in, easy-out compared to bigger airports, though neither IE facility has as many flight options.

Still, both ONT and PSP are gearing up for increased Thanksgiving travel. The Automobile Club of Southern California projects 6.58 million SoCal residents will head 50 miles or more from home over the Thanksgiving holiday travel period, a 2.8% increase over last year’s record number. (For the first time, AAA’s forecast includes the Tuesday before and the Monday after Thanksgiving Day to better capture the flow of holiday travelers.)

Nationwide, AAA is also projecting this Thanksgiving to be the busiest on record, with 79.86 million travelers expected compared to 78.1 million in 2023.

Most of those Thanksgiving travelers will drive, but a sizable percentage will fly, according to AAA.

AAA projects 676,000 Southern California will take to the skies over the holiday, an increase of 2.7% compared to Thanksgiving 2023. Nationwide, 5.84 million travelers are forecast to fly, an increase of 2.1% over last year's holiday, according to AAA.