As the Akron-Canton Airport has grown, so has the demand for long-term parking spaces.
“We come out every month with new passenger records, which means more automobiles in our parking lots,” said Kristie Van Auken, the airport’s senior vice president and chief marketing and communications officer. “It’s a great problem to have.”
But in order to keep the airport convenient and friendly, the airport knew it needed to offer more parking with easy access, she said. Last fall, the airport opened another 350 spaces in an expanded economy lot, just to the right of the airport loop road near the entrance, and a new long-term parking lot, just over the loop road, but still on the main campus.
“That got us through the Christmas holiday and largely through spring break as well. We’ve had to go into overflow on a couple of situations” and a few instances when the parking company had to direct cars to park around the perimeter of the lot during high-volume times, said Van Auken.
But with Southwest Airlines adding a new nonstop to Chicago's Midway Airport on Aug. 12 and Frontier offering two daily flights to Denver, there will be more passengers looking for parking spots, said Van Auken.
The airport has begun construction on what it calls a new Super Saver parking lot with 750 spaces. It will be operated by the airport’s parking lot management company and will open on June 1. Initially, 500 spots will be available in the new lot with an additional 250 coming by mid-July.
The lot will still be on airport property, but a little farther from the main campus. It will be off Lauby Road across the street from the Hilton Garden Inn, said Van Auken. The airport land was not being used.
Super Saver lot pricing will be cheaper than other lots, and there will be shuttles to take passengers from that lot to the airport, she said.
Additionally, in mid-July, another 30 spaces will be open in the Economy lot and another 20 in the Long-Term lot.
“The time it's going to take you from the new remote Super Saver lot to the building is largely going to be the same as the current Economy lot, yet it'll be less expensive.
“We understand there will be some trade-offs. We're going to price it so it's attractive to customers, particularly vacationing families who are going to be there for several days and look for value pricing,” said Van Auken.
Betty Lin-Fisher can be reached at 330-996-3724 or blinfisher@thebeaconjournal.com. Follow her on Twitter at www.twitter.com/blinfisher and see all her stories at www.ohio.com/betty
