Palm Springs International Airport continues to break pre-pandemic passenger records as November set the sixth straight monthly record for the year, and PSP recorded its busiest single day since the start of the pandemic.
The total passenger count for November was 271,944, a 151.7% increase over November 2020. The previous November record was set in 2018 when the total passenger count was recorded at 245,841. Airport officials did not expect passenger numbers to rebound to pre-pandemic levels until early 2023. However, starting in June the airport set a new passenger record and has continued to do so every month since. PSP has not only set six monthly passenger records this year, but it is also the only airport in Southern California to have more flights per month than before the pandemic, according to airline schedule data provided by Cirium.
“We continue to partner with Visit Greater Palm Springs to work with airlines to expand the flight options at PSP,” said Harry Barrett, Assistant Executive Director at Palm Springs International Airport. “We recently added two more airlines, and we have our 13th airline set to join PSP in January. This growth is adding more competition, which is helping to drive down airfares making it more affordable to fly to and from Palm Springs.”
Thanksgiving 2021 was busy for the airport too. Departing passenger counts increased more than 25% compared to Thanksgiving 2019, and the Sunday of Thanksgiving weekend was the busiest single day for PSP since the pandemic began. Airport officials expect December to be another strong month with 99 more scheduled departing flights and 16.4% more departing seats for sale than December 2019 when it offered 164,990 departing seats.
