A seat on a small plane from Reno to Burning Man costs $776.
While Burning Man is expected to see a decline in visitor numbers this year, the number of people flying to Reno and the Black Rock Desert is booming.
Reno Tahoe International Airport said Sunday, the day Burning Man officially opens its gates at 12:01 a.m., will be the busiest day at the airport in 20 years.
The annual festival brings up to 75,000 people camping in the Black Rock Desert, 100 miles east of Reno. It lasts until September 2nd.
More than 20,000 passengers are expected to arrive and depart on 155 flights on Sunday, and while not all of them are heading to Burning Man, you can probably already tell which ones are.
Airport officials say Sunday will be one of the few record-breaking days. In addition to Sunday, Friday, August 24, Monday, August 26 and Monday, September 2 are also expected to be particularly busy, according to the airport.
Flight to Playa
The journey from Reno, 160 kilometers to the east, to Burning Man can also be made by plane.
Burning Man has had a pop-up airport since about 2003, but pilots have been landing their planes on the dry lake bed for the event since 1991.
According to flight data, more than 2,000 flights took off and landed at the temporary airport in 2023. There is no information on whether these were private charter aircraft or Burner Express Air.
The Burning Man organization founded Burner Express Air in 2016 and contracts with private airlines to provide the service.
For this year’s Burning Man, there are less than a handful of seats left on Burner Express Air, the only way to book individual seats on the plane between the Playa and Reno Airport and three airports in California.
According to flight data, the Reno-based Burner Express uses a 10-passenger aircraft with up to eight flights per day. A one-way ticket for the 45-minute flight costs $776.31. There were no online options to book a round-trip flight.
In addition to Burner Express’s flights from Reno, you can also fly to and from Hayward and San Carlos in the Bay Area and Burbank in Southern California. A one-way flight from Burbank to Burning Man costs $2,300. All but a few flights are sold out.
Hundreds of private planes land at Burning Man
And if you prefer to fly your own plane or charter a plane, you are in good company.
Some companies charge $10,000 to $20,000 for a private plane with up to 15 seats from Reno to Burning Man. Flights from other cities are more expensive.
According to flight data, 800 to 3,000 private charter aircraft take off and land in the Black Rock Desert each year.
