Passengers at Burbank's Bob Hope Airport this summer may have to park in Van Nuys.
With a record number of travelers expected through September, officials expect they will run out of parking and have asked Los Angeles if they can use its Van Nuys park-and-ride lot.
Burbank airport operators acknowledge that advising customers to park several miles away may cancel out the reason they patronize the airfield in the first place.
"It's inimical to our typical Burbank customer profile," said Victor Gill, an airport spokesman. "They want the convenience of Burbank airport; they don't want to remote-park and take a shuttle."
The parking problem is a symptom of the crowding forecast for the region's four mid-size airports this summer as they continue to siphon flights and passengers away from aging Los Angeles International Airport.
Long Beach Airport has outgrown its Art Deco terminal, which now is used only for ticketing. Two temporary trailers that act as boarding lounges are at capacity. This summer, passengers can expect to sit outside as they await their flights.
"Come July, we will have some challenges with seating," said Sharon Diggs-Jackson, a spokeswoman for Long Beach Airport.
Ontario International Airport and John Wayne Airport in Santa Ana also expect record-setting passenger levels, though operators there say they have space to accommodate them.
Southern California's regional airports are victims of their own success. Passengers flocked to the smaller airfields after the Sept. 11, 2001, terrorist attacks to avoid long lines at LAX. Then low-cost carriers chose to place more flights at the suburban outposts.
Taken together, these factors helped regional facilities serve 30.4% of the region's passengers in 2005, compared to 24% in 2001. LAX, meanwhile, handled 69.6% of the Southland's travelers last year, down from 76% in 2001.
The shift is subtle, but it means big crowds and long lines in Burbank, Long Beach, Ontario and Santa Ana, where passengers used to be able to arrive an hour before a flight, park and sail through security to their gates. No more.
"When you're moving toward decentralization ... you have to worry about what the impacts will be on the secondary airports," said Steven Erie, a UC San Diego political science professor who has studied the region's airports. "You're starting to see it; parking is one of the first things to be hit."
