Picking people up or flying for Christmas? What to know about Myrtle Beach airport parking
With the arrival of the Christmas season, many Myrtle Beach residents will look to fly elsewhere to spend time with family.
With travel plans often set months in advance, travelers will know the routine of passing through TSA Security at the Myrtle Beach International Airport, finding their gate number and waiting to board their flights. However, finding parking might be a concern during the holiday season, and the airport is adding space so locals leaving the Grand Strand can have space to park their cars.
Ryan Betcher is the assistant director of airports for the Horry County Department of Airports. In a Dec. 13, 2024, interview, Betcher said the airport has 2,992 short-term, long-term and economic parking spaces. He added these will be at or near capacity during the holiday season. While peak travel season for the airport is in the spring and summer months, Betcher added the airport will have additional contingency parking lots opened for locals parking their cars. Golf cart shuttles will take people to the terminal based on changing demand levels.
Betcher also said signs and staff will help guide drivers to available parking areas as spots fill up.
“We shouldn’t see a lot of activity, necessarily, here at Myrtle Beach, compared to what we would see during the summer,” he added.
The Christmas season comes while renovations are underway at the airport. The changes will add six new gates, increasing the total number from 12 to 18, with renovations expected to conclude in late 2025.
The renovations will also include new flooring, concessions, renovated bathrooms and other upgrades. The entire project will add 50,000 square feet to the airport and 1,200 new parking spots for the economic parking area.
Betcher added that the increased parking space supply will give the airport more flexibility in dealing with the rise in local population growth. The increase in area residents drove the need for increasing capacity.
“We’ve seen parking demand increase at a rate that’s fairly consistent with what our local population has increased,” Betcher said. “So really, we’re trying to match parking capacity with what our local population is.”
Indeed, in October 2023, the airport added 400 new parking spots to accommodate more locals using the Myrtle Beach International Airport.
In a previous interview in October 2024, he also said that the airport planned to undergo renovations in the fall, winter, and spring to avoid the peak summer season.
The upgrades will help the airport deal with congestion near the gates during the summer months and give staff more flexibility in case of weather delays or other scenarios. Betcher said in October 2024 that the ongoing renovation wouldn’t impact travel, as most of the internal work would focus on the flooring. Betcher also said the construction would close at most two gates simultaneously with ongoing upgrades.
“There really shouldn’t be any impacts to the passengers who are traveling public during the holiday season,” He added in October 2024. “Ten gates should be more than sufficient for that period.”
New dining options will also open at the airport. Betcher said that most food services will be grab-and-go options. However, he also said Surfside Beach’s Pizza Hyena will open a new location in the airport expansion.
WBTW reported in June 2024 that the project would cost $90 million, but it is not the first time in recent years that the airport has undergone considerable changes. These include a new 274,00 square-foot terminal opened in 2013 and a parking lot in 2014 that created 575 parking spots. The two projects combined cost more than $120 million.
While the Myrtle Beach International Airport might not be as busy at Christmas time as others across the country, Betcher said fliers should stay up-to-date with airlines regarding travel. He added that delays or cancellations elsewhere could impact flights leaving and arriving in Myrtle Beach.
“We always encourage everyone to kind of monitor this flight status and just stay in touch with the airline, or reach out to the airline if they see that there are potential destination delays or cancellations,” Betcher said. “But here in Myrtle Beach, I think everyone’s going to see that the terminals can be fairly calm.”
