4 tips to breeze through travel at Tri-Cities Airport. Parking spots going fast
Things are heating up at the Tri-Cities Airport as holiday travel season kicks off.
By the time the 2025 season wraps up, somewhere around 90,000 air passengers will have boarded commercial airplanes in Pasco, based on recent trends.
No surprise there. The holiday travel season is the busiest time of year for airports.
Local travelers already are buzzing this week with concerns about finding parking spots at the airport.
Tri-Citians are notoriously spoiled by not needing to show up early, not having to stand in lines and not facing a lack of parking spaces.
So, Tri-Cities Airport officials advise each and every passenger to budget plenty of time to ensure their journey goes smoothly and to follow these tips:
Travel smart
- Be early: Arrive two hours early, despite what social media commenters say about the time needed to get through our small, local airport. Travelers need extra time to check bags and go through longer-than-usual Transportation Security Administration security screening area.
- Flight check: Check flight status with the airline and on the day of travel at flytricities.com. Some flights in the U.S. already are facing weather delays.
- Don’t park: Avoid parking fees and fighting for limited parking spots. Airport manager Buck Taft said Monday there were about 100 stalls available and the credit card lot farthest from the front door was “pretty open.” Don’t risk it. Get a ride. It’s cool to owe a favor.
- Real ID: Bring Real ID or arrive super early. In May, the TSA began enforcing its policy requiring enhanced drivers licenses or other approved forms of ID.
- No Real ID: Travelers who don’t have proper ID should arrive extra early for added screening. Last week, the TSA posted a notice in the federal register that it plans to levy an $18 charge on travelers without Real ID to cover the cost of the additional screening procedures.
- Real ID questions? Go to faa.gov/real-id.
The Tri-Cities Airport is served by Alaska, Allegiant, American, Delta and United.
It offers direct connections to international airports in Seattle, Denver, Las Vegas, Los Angeles, Minneapolis, Phoenix, Salt Lake City and San Francisco.
It also serves regional airports in the Los Angeles area (Burbank and soon, Santa Ana) and Phoenix (Mesa).
This story was originally published November 24, 2025 at 2:53 PM.