Philadelphia International Airport is planning to reopen part of its economy parking lot for the first time since it closed the popular $13-a-day option at the beginning of the pandemic, airport officials confirmed.
From April 21, about 1,850 parking spaces will be made available for travelers – about a quarter of the 7,100 parking spaces that have been vacant since March 2020. The decision marks a reversal from less than six months ago, when officials said they would permanently close the car park amid a dramatic overhaul of the airport’s parking operations that has emerged from the pandemic’s economic crisis.
Some passengers had hoped the property would temporarily reopen for vacation travel, but the revival of dormant space and the $10 million shuttle bus service between the property and airport terminals could not happen overnight, officials said.
“It’s really easy to close a parking facility like we did two years ago. It’s really difficult to restart one,” said James Tyrrell, PHL’s chief revenue officer.
PHL spokeswoman Heather Redfern said the airport had been planning this partial reopening for months, “but didn’t want to confuse passengers traveling during spring break.” Officials said they would release more details about the lot’s return in the coming weeks.
The economy car park is a short-term plan as the airport wants to add another surface car park that is closer than some other nearby options. Officials said they would be soliciting building bids for this property soon, and completion isn’t expected in two to three years.
However, most of the 40-acre commercial lot will remain closed as the airport plans to convert the above-ground parking lots to cargo facilities over the next decade. This week, officials announced progress on building sites that will provide companies with commercial cargo facilities in close proximity to the airfield.
But with an expected boom in travel demand this summer, airport staff recently began clearing the steppe grass from the property and performing minor maintenance around the entrance to the plaza.
Some regular fliers have bemoaned the loss of economy parking as they struggled to find affordable long-term parking. In the past two years, PHL has maintained approximately 12,000 parking spaces in its various parking garages. Airport officials have said there are about 9,000 additional spaces on private land nearby, although those options have also dwindled with the sale of long-term private land last year.
Robert Frieling Jr., a sales representative for Teamsters Union Local No. 115, the union representing parking and other transport workers at the airport, said it was pleased the airport had started bringing back workers laid off early in the pandemic to operate shuttle buses between the parking lot and the terminal.
“I think it’s a solid indicator that passenger traffic is increasing,” Frieling said of the reopening.
Airport officials said the Philadelphia Parking Authority will provide staff and First Transit will operate on-site shuttle buses. But Frieling said it’s not clear whether the reopening of the property will have any impact on the long-term prospects of the PPA at the airport.
In January, the city took an unprecedented move to take control of the lucrative airport parking operation, managed by the PPA for more than half a century, and plans to seek a new operator within the next year.
The PPA has announced that it will bid for the competitive offer to retain its approximately 100 employees at PHL.
Staff writer Catherine Dunn contributed to this report.
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