Burbank's Airport Moved Across the Runway. Your Thanksgiving Routine Moves With It.

On the morning of October 13, a Southwest pilot landed at Hollywood Burbank Airport with a planeload of passengers from Sacramento and noticed one thing first. "The taxi off was a little different," Mike Petros told the Los Angeles Times. "Instead of turning right, you turn left." Before takeoff he had told his passengers they'd be arriving at a new terminal, so anyone picking them up should know.

Some of the people meeting them didn't get the message. The Times reported that airport staff spent the day sending confused travelers from the old, now-idle terminals over to the new one. One passenger found out about the switch from his Uber driver on the way in.

The turn to the left sums up the change. The $1.3 billion building is bigger, but the airport inside it does the same job it did before. Nearly everything that changed is the part a Burbank, Glendale or Pasadena household had down by muscle memory: which street you take in, where you idle, where an arriving parent waits for you, what you grab before your flight. Thanksgiving falls on November 26, so the first big holiday rush is three weeks out. That's enough time to relearn the drive.

Same airport, different building

The Burbank-Glendale-Pasadena Airport Authority has called this a replacement, not an expansion, and the numbers back that up.

The opening-day schedule had about 90 arrivals and departures across eight airlines, roughly what the old buildings handled. You'll also still climb outdoor stairs from the tarmac at the front and back of the plane, the boarding style BUR regulars have long liked.

What's new is the shell. The terminal covers about 355,000 square feet, which the Times put at roughly 50% larger than the two old terminals combined. A pair of illuminated steel sculptures by Cliff Garten stands at the entrance, and Glenn Kaino's mirrored grid hangs overhead inside. The 1930 Spanish Colonial Revival building it replaced is across the airfield, out of the way.

Same flights, more room. So the real adjustment is getting to the building and getting out of it.

The drive now ends at Winona

The main entrance has moved off Thornton Avenue, where it sat for decades, to Winona Avenue and Hollywood Way, on the opposite side of the airfield, as the Daily News reported. If your route to BUR has always ended with a turn toward Thornton, that turn now takes you to a closed chapter.

The parking map shifted along with the entrance. Across from the terminal is a new seven-level garage with about 2,000 spaces and 310 EV charging ports. Lot E has closed permanently, and valet now operates inside the garage. As of the airport's current pages, maximum daily rates are listed like this:

• Terminal garage, self-park: $49 per day
• Terminal garage, valet: $59 per day
• Lot F: $28 per day, with shuttle service
• Lot G: $24 per day, with shuttle service

On a four-night Thanksgiving trip, the gap between the garage and Lot G adds up quickly. Planning ahead has one wrinkle this season. The airport's parking page says pre-booking is unavailable while the Authority moves to a new parking operator. Drive-up parking remains open in every lot, and updates will be posted on the site.

There's also a deadline that's easy to miss. Anyone who parked at the old terminal before October 13 has 30 days from that date to collect the car from the old structure or valet center. Counted out, that's November 12.

The curb is for moving, not waiting

The new terminal works best for people picking someone up if they arrive on time and leave right away. The airport's FAQ allows curbside pickup and drop-off but no waiting at the curb. If your passenger isn't standing there yet, the airport sends you to the short-term parking structure, where posted rates apply. Arriving travelers can be met in the baggage claim area, which is now indoors. The FAQ doesn't list a separate cell-phone waiting lot.

Rideshare has its own spot. Uber and Lyft pickups and drop-offs now happen at the ground-transportation island in front of the garage's main entrance, according to the airport's ridesharing page. If you're sending a teenager or a visiting in-law to catch a car home, that's where they go. Rental-car customers take a shuttle to the consolidated rental facility across Hollywood Way.

The quicker trip through security changes your departure timing too. The airport still tells travelers to arrive at least an hour before a flight, and says airlines recommend at least two hours during peak holiday periods. Eight TSA lanes instead of five should help with that two-hour window. Opening day wasn't perfectly smooth, though. LAist described a mostly orderly first day with some last-minute gate changes and flight-information screens showing wrong information.

The train connection got a walk

For people who skip the car, both Metrolink stations still connect, though each trip now ends differently. According to Metrolink, the Burbank Airport-North station on the Antelope Valley Line is about a half-mile walk from the terminal via Cohasset Street, or a shuttle ride from its stop on San Fernando Boulevard. From the South station on the Ventura County Line, you go through the Regional Intermodal Transportation Center across Empire Avenue and take the airport shuttle.

A half mile with a carry-on is easy in November light. With two checked bags and a child, the shuttle makes more sense.

Three cities' restaurants, behind one checkpoint

The food hall is where the "same airport, new building" idea goes furthest. Burbank-based Metropolitan Culinary Services has run food and beverage at BUR since 1992 and won the new contract on a 7-1 Airport Authority vote. Its president, Steve Mora, credited the win to a "local-first approach, offering the best of restaurants from Burbank, Glendale, and Pasadena," as Zartonk reported.

The lineup shows it. The Times listed Jones Coffee, Poquito Mas, Massis Kabob, Border Grill, Perry's Joint, West Coast Smash Burgers, Spring Chicken, Diane's Farm Table and Italian Market, Jet Tila's Asian Table, Guy Fieri's Flavortown, Starbucks, Santa Canela bakery and Pete's Pub. Pete's Pub has picture windows looking out at the runways and the Verdugo Mountains.

Massis Kabob has the most local backstory. The family business started in 1976 as one stand in the Glendale Galleria food court, and it marks 50 years this year. Brothers Peter and Gevik Baghdassarian run it now, and their first standalone restaurant opened in 2022 at Colorado Boulevard and Glendale Avenue. Zartonk reported on October 17 that the BUR spot will be the company's eighth location, and the family said it's believed to be the first Armenian-owned restaurant in a U.S. airport.

The rollout has been gradual. On opening day, the Times reported, most of the six retail stores were open but none of the 13 food concessions were fully running, with two offering grab-and-go. By late October, California Post coverage showed travelers buying from Poquito Mas and West Coast Smash. The airport's dining directory still shows "Coming Soon" next to every food vendor, so check it again before you plan a meal around one.

Location matters for whoever is meeting a flight. The directory puts Jones Coffee at Gate 6, Border Grill at Gate 12 and Jet Tila's at Gate 13, all past security. Santa Canela is at Baggage Claim 3, so someone waiting for an arrival can get to it.

Several of these names already have spots in town. Poquito Mas has a Burbank location, Massis Kabob is on Colorado Boulevard in Glendale, and Jones Coffee comes from Pasadena.

The old terminal's last season

The old buildings across the airfield sat empty on opening day. KTLA reported the airport expects to demolish them within 12 months of October 13, and the Daily News reported that the taxiways will be extended. That puts this holiday season among the last chances to see the 1930 terminal from the Hollywood Way side, with its Spanish Colonial Revival lines that greeted Burbank travelers for nearly a century.

The gates and the runways stayed the same, the schedule stayed about the same, and almost every other part of the trip moved to the left.

Here at Backbeat Homes, we follow how changes like this shape everyday life around Burbank, Glendale and Pasadena, from the drive to Winona Avenue to the counter where you grab a burrito on the way to the airport. If a shorter trip to your gate is part of how you're thinking about home, let's talk.