- Hundreds of flights have landed in Black Rock City for Burning Man — tech bros' favorite party.
- Last year, FlightAware data shows that over 2,000 flights arrived at the pop-up desert airport.
Over 880 flights descended on Black Rock Desert's pop-up airport this week as the playa opened shop for Burning Man.
Every year, an airport known as 88NV is constructed — and then taken down — in a dried-up lakebed in the Nevada desert that is home to the annual arts and music festival, which began as a fire party in San Francisco in 1986 and has recently attracted billionaire CEOs and tech execs.
Tesla CEO Elon Musk, Meta's Mark Zuckerberg, and investor Ray Dalio have all been spotted at Burning Man on the playa over the years.
And while many people travel to the event by car, those who can afford it arrive by flying into the special dust airport. The event first began welcoming aircraft in 1991, but the Black Rock City Airport wasn't recognized as a temporary airport until 2008 and didn't appear on official aviation charts as 88NV until 2011.
The airport is pretty rugged: 88NV doesn't currently have any permanent structures or an air traffic control tower, Insider previously reported, and it sports two short desert runways — its longest being just under 6,000 feet, according to airport information website AirNav.
In the past, some wealthy attendees have flown in directly from places like San Francisco and New York, which can cost a pretty penny. Jettly CEO Justin Crabbe told Insider in 2019 that the roundtrip flight from New York to Black Rock City cost $55,000.
Now, 88NV is mainly used as the destination of the Burner Express, a bus and aircraft service that transports attendees from Southern California and the Bay Area, as well as from the Reno airport. Individuals can either purchase a ticket on an aircraft or charter an entire plane.
The nearby Reno-Tahoe International Airport — which is just under 100 miles from the festival — also sees an uptick in flights during the festival. For the past two years, the week of Burning Man has been one of the busiest at the airport, with hundreds more flights landing at the airport than on a typical day, per FlightAware data.
While still a popular runway, 88NV appears to be cutting back this year
Over 880 flights have landed at the Black Rock City Airport over the past week, and more are expected to fly into the airport as the festival continues into Monday, according to data from the flight-tracking site FlightAware.
This compares to over 2,000 flights last year, according to FlightAware. But the event organizers appear to be doing things differently this year.
For Burning Man 2023, a majority of the aircraft permitted to land at the 88NV are those the event offers through Burner Express Air, Alex Sgarlata, director of operations and sales administration for flight-charter firm evoJets, told Insider.
"This limitation is likely in response to the heavy air charter traffic into the airport in years past, with no ATC to control it," Sgarlata said, referring to air traffic control. He added that the lack of ATC means there is nobody on the ground to assist pilots flying in.
Insider could not independently confirm this. A Burning Man spokesperson did not respond to a request for comment ahead of publication.
The flights aren't cheap, however, with a one-way ticket from Oakland costing $675, and last-minute flights priced at over $1,300, SF Gate reported.
According to Burner Express' website, other air carriers can fly into Black Rock City, but those who wish to must email and register with the company in advance. Otherwise, the plane's passengers will be turned away.
Meanwhile, Burning Man said private pilots can fly their own aircraft into 88NV, but they must "preregister and qualify" before flying in due to how winds and dust can impact aircraft: "Things can get really weird out here," the airport warns on its website.
Based on FlightAware data, common planes flying to the airport are the Pilatus PC-12 and Cessna 172 — both single-engine planes typically used for short hops in regional areas.
Airline pilot and aerospace expert Kathleen Bangs told Insider that flight conditions can be complicated at Burning Man's desert airport due to the elevation and heat.
"A 4,000-foot elevation with 6,000-foot long gravel runways in hot temperatures doesn't provide much performance margin when operating piston airplanes," she said. "The runway length is good but still high and hot."
Sgarlata also added color to the harsh conditions present at 88NV.
"The airstrip, since it is in the desert, is known to have very high winds without notice, so wind shear and white-out conditions are common," he told Insider.
Planes on the playa have drawn criticism from climate activists
Although the event mantra is famously "leave no trace," Burning Man isn't free from criticism by climate activists who have protested the use of private aircraft to travel to the festival.
Burning Man's carbon footprint reached about 100,000 tons of CO2 per year as of 2019, according to its sustainability roadmap, which also lays out plans to be carbon negative by 2030.
The event organizers have said they are working to make the festival, which already relies on solar power, carbon negative. Even the aircraft that commonly visit the airport are known for having lower emissions than most private planes.
The Pilatus PC-12 produces up to 74% less emissions than the average aircraft, according to the manufacturer.