BILLINGS — This Sunday marks the start of the Yellowstone International Air Show in Billings. It's expected to bring in tens of thousands of visitors to Billings, thanks to local efforts to make the city a summer destination.
The event is also expected to bring much-needed revenue to the city and local businesses.
“There’s so much excitement around this event. We get calls every day asking about parking and dining and accommodations, things like that," said Billie Ruff, the president of Travel Café, on Tuesday. "It’s going to be fun to see all the activity coming into Billings for this."
Travel Café is a Montana travel agency that negotiated discounts with airlines for the air show.
“Very many months ago, we negotiated discounts for people coming from all over the United States to Billings," Ruff said. "It’s a convention-type fare, to offer discounts with most of the major carriers that service the Billings market."
Those discounts are for flights on Delta, United, and Alaska Airlines, thanks to the local travel agency.
According to Yellowstone County Disaster Emergency Services (DES), 15,000 tickets have been sold for Saturday and 6,000 for Sunday.
"We were talking about numbers such as 20,000 per day," Ruff said. "It’s hard to tell whether we’re going to hit that, but it sure feels like there’s excitement to bring those types of people and numbers to Billings."
Hotels are seeing mass bookings and car rentals are going quickly.
To accommodate the traffic, access from Main Street to Zimmerman Trail via Highway 3 will be closed from 3 p.m. to 6 p.m. on Saturday and Sunday.
According to a spokesperson for the City of Billings, there are no commercial flights scheduled during the air show on Saturday and Sunday. If someone needs to access the airport for arrivals or departures, the airport will be accessible from North 27th Street.
That spokesperson continued to say air show ticket holders will receive a parking pass via email, and that the Rims from Swords Park to the airport will be closed.
According to Yellowstone DES, there will not be a shuttle available.
Ruff says Travel Café is happy to play a role in the momentous weekend.
“I just think this is really a benefit to Billings to have these kinds of large events," Ruff said. "If there’s something that we can do as a local company to help bring these things to Billings, we are happy to do it."
Gates open at 9 a.m. on both days, and the show will begin at 11 a.m.
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