Salt Lake City parking
A rebuilt, easy-to-use Delta hub and the gateway to the Wasatch ski resorts.
About Salt Lake City
A completely rebuilt airport with two concourses joined by underground tunnels, and a walk that surprises people.
Salt Lake City International served 28,158,007 passengers in 2025. The airport was rebuilt from scratch over the last decade and the result is a single terminal feeding two concourses, A with 47 gates and B with 36, for 83 gates today and another 11 opening in fall 2026.
The two concourses are joined by two underground tunnels. This is the thing arriving passengers talk about, because the walk from one end of the operation to the other is genuinely long, and the distance is not obvious from a terminal map.
Denver is the busiest route at 913,455 passengers, then Phoenix Sky Harbor and Seattle. Internationally Amsterdam leads at 226,130, ahead of Paris and Cancun. It is a Delta hub with a strong outdoor-leisure flow on top, which means ski season and national park season both leave marks on the traffic.
Getting to SLC
All the practical access info, by car, train, coach and otherwise.
The airport is four miles west of downtown, reached from I-80 at exit 115B, from I-215 at exits 22, 22B and 23, and from North Temple Street and State Route 154, the Bangerter Highway.
The Green Line TRAX light rail runs directly to the airport station, connecting to the wider regional network.
UTA bus services call at the airport.
SLC is unusually close to its city, so the drive is short. The parking decision here is about the walk inside the building more than the journey to it.
How parking works at Salt Lake City
The garage sits between the terminal and the economy lots. Inside it are Hourly Garage Parking on levels 2 to 5, Daily Garage Parking on levels 2 and 3, and Premium Reserved Parking on level 2. Valet operates out of the hourly garage.
The value tier is Long-Term Economy Parking, and it comes in two halves with their own shuttle numbering: the blue economy lot on the north side, served by shuttles 1 to 5, and the red economy lot on the south side, served by shuttles 6 to 8. Lot E sits to the east of the red lot.
For collecting arrivals, SLC calls its waiting area the Park and Wait Lot, east of the red economy lot. It is worth knowing the name, because it is not called a cell phone lot here.
Tips travelers wish they'd known
- Note your shuttle number, not just the lot color. Blue economy runs shuttles 1 to 5 on the north side and red economy runs shuttles 6 to 8 on the south side, and coming back tired you will want to know which one you need.
- Allow for the walk. The two concourses are linked by underground tunnels and the distances inside SLC are longer than the single-terminal layout suggests.
- The waiting area for pickups is the Park and Wait Lot, east of the red economy lot. That is the local name for it.
- Ski season and national park season both spike demand here. Reserve ahead for winter weekends and for the summer peak.
SLC questions, answered
The questions our 24/7 team gets asked most about flying from Salt Lake City.
How early should I arrive at Salt Lake City?+
Two hours for domestic flights and three for international, and lean long. The concourses are connected by underground tunnels and the internal walk is longer than most people expect.
What is the Park and Wait Lot at SLC?+
It is Salt Lake City's free waiting area for collecting arriving passengers, the equivalent of a cell phone lot at other airports. It sits east of the red economy parking lot.
What is the difference between the blue and red economy lots?+
They are the two halves of Long-Term Economy Parking. Blue is on the north side and is served by shuttles 1 to 5. Red is on the south side and is served by shuttles 6 to 8. Both run free shuttles to the terminal.
Is there a train to Salt Lake City airport?+
Yes. The Green Line TRAX light rail runs directly to the airport station and connects to the wider regional network.