Shoe covers at every door? Bags to wrap your bags in? Signs telling you to wear clothes?
It must be Burning Man season at the Reno-Tahoe International Airport.
Between the conclusion of the annual festival at Black Rock City, Labor Day weekend, and ongoing construction on the airport’s Loop Road, congestion is at an all-time high.
The airport is asking travelers to think ahead.
“We encourage passengers to get here at least two hours early,” says Jennifer O’Hara, Public Affairs Specialist for the Reno-Tahoe Airport Authority. “Check your parking options before you come here. Catch a ride if you can.”
The Airport Authority says about 20,000 travelers are expected at RNO on Monday. Airlines have accounted for this, with a 2.7% jump in overall capacity year over year.
Even with thousands of people going to and from the playa, burners say they had no hiccups with travel.
"It was like the smoothest travel to and from Burning Man that I've had, that we've all had, I believe,” says Andrea Aguilar from Austin, Texas. “Having that late rain just delayed some people, but that was about it, I guess."
"We had about a five-hour wait between when we made it to the gate and when we actually made it in. But during that five-hour wait, we had a phenomenal time. We were just grooving, meeting new people in other cars,” says Flash, a four-time Burner.
Flash says that wait is typical for arriving on day three. He and other Burners will be asked to wear foot covers and wrap luggage in plastic bags to keep the airport clean and playa-dust-free.
Another Burner, who goes by Pineapple, says it may be his first visit to Black Rock City, but he came prepared.
“I'll do the bags. I'm a little too early for my flight, so I can't check them in,” he says, “but I got into the bathroom, cleaned up everything, got the dust off of things."
Aguilar is a nine-time burner. She says she dusted off before getting to the airport.
“We were actually quite good about how we packed our stuff, and like our shoes aren't too bad,” she says. “So we kind of bypassed those things because we're pretty clean right now."
Got a bike at Burning Man and can't take it with you? The airport has a donation spot for you, in partnership with the Reno Bike Project.
It's at the south end of the drop-off lanes, right by where the road splits into pick-up and drop-off. There's a dumpster there as well.
For both Burners and Labor Day travelers, here's to a smooth trip and a quick turnaround back to everyday life.
"I actually have a work conference that I have to go to,” Flash says. “I gotta buy some clothes because my clothes are dirty.”
