Palm Springs Airport: 4 Fun Facts

Travelers flock to the

Palm Springs

area, where you can find breathtaking landscapes and mid-century architecture. Palm Springs owes much of its manmade glamour to the film industry, where in the early days of Hollywood, film stars were allegedly required to be within two and a half hours drive from Los Angeles. Palm Springs remained within those parameters, and movie stars used this desert oasis as the perfect getaway.

A desert oasis

Palm Springs International Airport, IATA code PSP and ICAO code KSPS, is owned by the city of Palm Springs and covers a total land area of 940 acres with two runways. The airport operates year-round, with peak traffic occurring in the fall, winter, and spring. While the airport is classified as international, it only has US customs and

US immigration

for general aviation. However, flights from Canada operating directly make the most of

pre-clearance

facilities at their point of departure.

The airport is spread over three parts: the main building, the Sonny Bono Concourse (north), and the Agua Caliente Concourse (south). The airport caters to flights with 19

gates

, and its most unique feature is its open-air layout. Passengers can connect through the exterior courtyard, which is roofless, ensuring you can bask in the warm temperatures that the region has to offer.

Departing passengers are routed into the airport’s main terminal first, where they can check in and pass through security screening. Once this is complete, you are on the secure airside of the airport and can explore these five unique features of Palm Springs International Airport:

1

Outdoor courtyard

Playgrounds, restaurants, and seating areas

Perhaps the most unique feature of any airport worldwide is that at

Palm Springs

International Airport, you can leave the main terminal building through automatic doors and enjoy the open-air courtyard after clearing

airport security

. The courtyard has a range of full-service restaurants, coffee shops, specialty shops, and restrooms.

Those traveling with young children can let them burn off steam at the exterior playground, and a pet relief area is also available near the Sonny Bono concourse. Although this is a courtyard, there are 19 full-service gates across two concourses. Popular amenities in the exterior courtyard include:

• Coachella Valley Coffee (coming soon)
• Half Moon Empanadas
• Las Casuelas Terraza (Mexican cuisine, coming soon)
• Playground and pet areas
• PSP Coffee House
• PSP Wine Bar
• Vino Volo (wine, coming soon)

2

Sonny Bono Concourse

Gates 4-11

Named after singer and songwriter Sonny Bonno. He was once married to Cher. A member of the Republican Party, Bono once served as the 16th mayor of Palm Springs between 1988 and 1992. This concourse opened as part of a 1994- 2000 expansion, adding eight new gates with jet bridges for the airport. It can handle the

Boeing 737

and

Airbus A320

aircraft; however, on odd occasions, it can welcome the Boeing 767 or aircraft of similar size.

This airport area includes an outdoor escalator and walkway shaded with a designer roofline, much like the one seen at Denver International Airport (DEN). Within the Sonny Bono concourse, amenities include:

• Golf Pro shop
• Newsstand
• ATM
• Cactus to Clouds (breakfast, sandwiches, soups etc)
• Hey Joshua (handcrafted goods)
• PSP Self-service drinks and snacks
• InMotion (tech hub)
• Las Palmas Oasis (clothing and skincare)
• Trio (food and cocktails, coming soon)
• Water refilling stations

3

Agua Caliente Concourse

Gates 12-20

Also known as the regional concourse, the Agua Caliente Concourse is located on the airport’s south side and is home to gates 12 to 20. This area hosts smaller aircraft, such as the

Embraer ERJ

and Bombardier ERC, and its 112 gates are all hardstands. Six of these can handle aircraft of size up to the Airbus A321. Amenities in this concourse include:

• Nine Cities Craft (restaurant)
• Nursing room (en route to Agua Caliente)
• Uptown Essentials (gifts, souvenirs, snacks and drinks)
• Water refilling stations

Photo: Palm Springs International Airport

Surprisingly, the Agua Caliente concourse is the only part of the airport capable of handling the

Airbus A220

on a handstand. When passengers board or disembark an aircraft on this side of the airport, they use the ramp or airstairs.

4

Transborder visitors

Air Canada, Flair, Porter, Westjet,

As previously mentioned, the airport is classified as international despite not having any immigration facilities in Palm Springs capable of handling commercial aircraft. International formalities can be accommodated for general aircraft; however, fortunately, for commercial flights inbound from Canada, all of these already have United States pre-clearance facilities available on departure.

Westjet currently operates at the airport year-round, with Air Canada seasonally and Porter Airlines set to join the pack in December this year. Flights to the northern neighbor include:

• Air Canada

  , Vancouver (seasonally)

• Air Canada Rouge, Toronto (seasonally)
• Flair, Edmonton, Toronto, and Vancouver (seasonally)
• Porter Airlines, Toronto Pearson (seasonally, starting December 12)
• Westjet, Calgary, Edmonton, and Vancouver year-round, with flights to Winnipeg seasonally

Domestically, all major

US carrers

operate to Palm Springs from their respective hubs, keeping Palm Springs connected to the rest of the United States year round. During the peak travel season, capacity to the airport surges, adding extra flights for sun-seeking travelers.