Durango-La Plata County Airport is bracing for what it anticipates will be the busiest Thanksgiving holiday season yet by implementing its first ever temporary shuttle service.
DRO Aviation Director Tony Vicari said he expects a record-breaking number of departures and tremendous parking demand next week. Between 800 and 1,000 travelers are expected to depart from the airport every day, comparable to peak summer travel at DRO, with the majority of travelers being Durango-area and Southwest Colorado residents leaving for the holiday.
DRO’s temporary shuttle service will ferry passengers from a remote parking lot directly to the entrance of the airport with a travel time of about five minutes, he said. The remote lot will have 171 parking spaces, which are being offered at a reduced daily rate compared to DRO’s standard terminal parking lot fees.
The rate is $7 per day, $2 less than the airport’s main parking lot rate, he said.
Vicari said the shuttle service begins Monday and will run through Nov. 27 ahead of Thanksgiving on Nov. 28, and after the holiday it will continue based on demand. Up to two shuttles will be used based on demand, and the shuttle service will await arriving travelers on their return trips.
A news release published by the city of Durango last week said the shuttle service is scheduled to continue through Dec. 2.
He added the shuttle parking lot is in close proximity to the airport and signage will be placed on Airport Road (County Road 309) directing people to the parking lot.
Fall, specifically mid-September through late October, is historically DRO’s busiest time of year for parking. The busiest overall time of year for travel is the summer, not including “surge events” such as holidays, but it is in the fall when the most locals are using the airport and its parking lots, he said.
The airport has been challenged by high parking demands in the past. Vicari said Thanksgiving travel and parking demand have “grown steadily” in the past few years. But he told The Durango Herald nothing compares to the overwhelming number of Durango-area travelers last Thanksgiving.
“We filled up every single one of the paid parking spaces in our traditional lots at the terminal, and then beyond that, we parked exactly 100 cars outside of the parking lot, and so that involved creative parking,” he said.
He said DRO staff members scrambled to accommodate travelers, using waiting lots, rental car overflow spaces and curb lines as parking spaces.
“That was really the straw that broke the camel’s back,” he said. “... We needed to put a different type of operation in place to make sure that we could … safely and efficiently manage this. Because it was challenging.”
The airport has recently expanded its parking capacity and lots are still filling up this fall, he said. In 2023, it expanded overload parking by about 70 spaces. Earlier this year, it paved 276 spaces that were formerly unpaved gravel spaces, adding about 70 more new spaces in the process, totaling about 140 new spaces in the last two years.
And more paved parking is planned, he said. DRO is currently designing another parking expansion project that could go out to bid as early as this winter, with construction planned to start next spring or summer, that will add another 150 new spaces to the main terminal parking lot.
“We are continuing to push on the parking front, knowing that we have these growing pressures,” he said.
DRO is using the temporary shuttle service next week to test how the service is received and used by travelers; it could be rolled out again for other peak demand periods. But Vicari said there are currently no plans to implement the service full-time.
“The airport doesn’t have any intention of (implementing) shuttle service on an ongoing, year-round type basis, but (this) renders an opportunity for us to trial through this process to see if it's an avenue for us to look closer at to manage future surge events around things like Thanksgiving,” he said.
Vicari said the airport will likely appear quite busy next week with the surge of departing travelers. He stressed people should plan ahead and give themselves plenty of time to get to the airport and check in with their airlines well ahead of their scheduled flights.
Travelers should plan to arrive at least 1½ hours ahead of their departure times. Those traveling in large groups, who have considerable amounts of luggage or are traveling internationally should arrive at least two full hours before their flights, he said.
“Things are going to be busy,” he said.
He said the majority of missed flights at DRO are because of people trying to squeak through check-in just 30 minutes before departure. Airlines close their counters 45 minutes before scheduled flights.
“Unfortunately, unless you already have your boarding pass printed and aren’t traveling with a checked bag, you’re going to be out of luck, because the airlines can’t check in that close to departure and still get a plane out on time,” he said.
cburney@durangoherald.com
