For one week a year, Burning Man’s airport is among nation’s busiest

BLACK ROCK CITY, Nev. — There's no security screening, no baggage claim and no Uber rides, but for a week each year, a dusty patch of the Nevada desert claims it becomes one of the busiest airports in the United States.

Here at the Black Rock City Municipal Airport at Burning Man, jester-hatted pilots mingle with women in sparkly leotards. Dust storms obscure the departure gate. Air traffic controllers in cowboy hats work out of a shipping container sitting on wooden stilts.

While the flying remains serious business, whimsy surrounds the entire volunteer-run operation. Burning Man has formally recognized the airport since about 2003, but pilots have been landing planes on the dry lakebed for the event since 1991. The runways themselves are packed-down sections of the dusty lakebed, and pilots have been known to simply land elsewhere on occasion.

"As far as we know, we’re the busiest temporary airport anywhere, the only airport of its size run by volunteers, and the dustiest airport in the world," airport managers said in welcoming Burners to the site.

The airport serves multiple purposes: People with enough money can skip driving to Burning Man and take a charter flight in, usually from California…

Original source: https://www.usatoday.com/news/nation/