Hartsfield-Jackson Atlanta International Airport is hiking its prices for parking at airport-run lots and decks, more than tripling hourly rates and significantly increasing other prices.
The airport says the increases are its first in eight years and come as the world’s busiest airport is in the middle of a yearslong program to modernize its parking facilities.
Rates will go up effective May 1, with hourly parking rising to at least $10 an hour from $3 an hour. Those who leave their car for multiple days in the international hourly lot would pay as much as $100 a day.
“We believe that these price increases are necessary,” Tyronia Smith, the Atlanta airport’s assistant general manager, said at a Monday media briefing.
Daily rates in the parking decks next to the domestic terminals will go from $19 to $30 a day.
The ATL West deck will also cost $30 a day starting May 1, up from $16 a day.
Economy parking will increase from $14 to $20 a day.
Domestic park-ride lots will increase to $15 a day for uncovered parking, up from $10 a day.
The international park-ride deck will go from $14 to $30 a day.
“We will be still one of the lowest in the country” for daily parking rates, Smith said, referring to prices at similarly sized airports.
She added that inflation has driven up costs significantly since the last time the airport increased its parking rates across the board in 2017.
The airport is also seeking more revenue to pay off debt for construction of new parking decks under construction and planned for the future, as it prepares to handle as many as 125 million passengers a year by 2030.
Credit: Miguel Martinez-Jimenez
Credit: Miguel Martinez-Jimenez
“Anytime there’s a change there’s obviously, you know, some reservations” among customers, Smith acknowledged. “But I think once the customers see what’s being offered — additional capacity, we’ll be introducing new services, the new technology — I think they’re going to be fine with it.”
Alex Shofman, a student at Georgia State University from Jackson, parked at the airport to pick up a friend at the airport Monday morning, paying $3 an hour.
“Travel is already like a luxury thing,” Shofman said. “I don’t think it should be expensive to park your car.”
When the cost to park at the airport increases, she thinks it could prompt more people to consider “Uber or Lyft or finding a different ride.”
MARTA has a train station at the domestic terminal and offers long-term parking at some stations.
Atlanta resident Keith Kristiansen said after parking at the Atlanta airport for a week about six years ago and paying a hefty amount, he has been taking MARTA to the airport.
“Some of the parking, I had to walk pretty far to get just inside,” Kristiansen said. “It’s just not worth it.”
He thinks higher rates will drive more people to avoid parking at the airport.
Credit: Ben Hendren
Credit: Ben Hendren
Tracy High, who lives in Roswell, said she usually parks at the airport’s ATL West deck for short trips and takes Uber for longer trips. She doesn’t think higher rates will necessarily change her approach.
“It wouldn’t make that big of a difference,” High said. However, she added she has gotten stuck in long waits to leave the ATL West deck because of backup at the exit station machines. “That’s something they need to work on,” she said.
The airport brings in more than $180 million in revenue from airport parking a year, according to the city of Atlanta budget.
That means the airport brings in close to $500,000 a day from parking on average.
For this fiscal year, the airport expects parking revenue will remain “relatively flat” because of construction projects to repair and replace the parking decks, which have closed some parking spaces.
Airport parking shortages during busy periods have vexed many travelers, causing some to miss their flights.
Airport-run parking lots and decks compete with off-airport lots, Uber and Lyft, MARTA and other options available to travelers.
Off-airport lots often cost less than the most expensive airport-run parking options. Some also offer more amenities but may charge more than the least expensive airport-run park-ride lots.
Hughie Galbreath, the airport’s senior director of parking and ground transportation, acknowledged that he expects “some shift in consumer behavior.”
Even with a reduction in parking volume, the rate increases are expected to drive future airport parking revenue up by 25-30%, according to Galbreath.
That’s revenue the airport plans to use to help pay for some major projects.
Hartsfield-Jackson is building a new $530 million South parking deck to be connected via a pedestrian bridge to the terminal, with about 7,700 spaces planned.
Credit: Miguel Martinez-Jimenez
Credit: Miguel Martinez-Jimenez
It is expected to be completed next summer, in time for World Cup matches in Atlanta, and will be used to replace parking lost when the existing decades-old parking decks are imploded and demolished to be reconstructed.
Credit: Ben Hendren
Credit: Ben Hendren
Smith said the airport is also considering adding more parking at the international terminal, where parking decks sometimes reach capacity during busy periods.
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