Palm Springs International Airport Passing the travel test with flying colors
By Alison Elsner For DMHN
When travelers arrive in Palm Springs, they are greeted by gently swaying palms, multi-faceted mountain vistas, trendy shops and restaurants (including a wine bar), play areas for children and pets and an overall warmth that brings imminent relaxation. And that’s just the experience that greets guests within the confines of the airport.
The Palm Springs International Airport is a tourist-friendly, brickand-mortar ambassador of sorts to the entire Coachella Valley -- a perfect complement to the golf courses and resorts that lie beyond the tarmac gates. It’s one of the most favorable and reflective representations of the area, especially for newcomers. It has even earned the title as one of “America’s Most Stress-Free Airports” by smartertravel.com.
The main building invites outbound travelers to check in and pass through security screening before venturing forward to enjoy an open-air courtyard, aforementioned shops and restaurants and seventeen full service gates at two concourses, one of which is named the Sonny Bono concourse. All of the passenger walkways on the concourses are roofless. The airport started as a single dirt runway in the 1920’s, which
gave way to a paved airstrip in the 1930’s. It continued to be used for military and passenger flights in the decades that followed. Palm Springs architect Donald Wexler, known for his midcentury modern architecture and use of steel in building construction, designed a distinctive new terminal, which opened in 1966. By 1967, there were 24 daily flights and a six-story-tall control tower. The runways were lengthened Continues on page 6 >>
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