NORFOLK, Va. - If you're planning to fly out of Norfolk this summer, the airport's executives suggest booking your parking ahead of time.
That's because, in terms of passengers, Norfolk International Airport is as busy as ever.
“Right now, we’re on track for ten to 12 percent higher than last year, which was a record year," Mark Perryman, Executive Director for the airport, told News 3 recently.
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With busy Memorial Day weekend now in the past, the summer travel season is officially underway and airlines continue to add new flights in and out of ORF.
Breeze Airlines now flies between Norfolk and San Diego four times a week and Sunday, June 2, marks the start of non-stop service from Norfolk to San Juan, Puerto Rico via Frontier Airlines.
"We’ve never had a Caribbean destination out of here," said Perryman. “Our summer seat count, which is what we kind of look at to forecast what our activity is looking like, is up month over month over month anywhere from 20 to 25 percent over last year’s seat count.”
Perryman says it's exciting to see so many people coming through the airport, but admits the success is putting pressure on its parking lots and garages. He says Spring Break season in particular was eyeopening.
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“Less than ten percent of our parking was available during that time," he told News 3. “We’re encouraging our traveling public, those who live here, to use our Parking Perks program.”
Parking reservation is available on the airport's website and allows users to book parking ahead of time at a discount. The site also shows visitors how many spaces are still available.
John Espinosa and his wife used it before their trip to Europe. He spoke to News 3 with his bags in tow.
“They said the parking here was very hectic and so what I did was I went online and made a reservation and it was very quick," he said.
For those who still choose to drive up, if the lots are full, Perryman says theoretically they could be turned away. He doesn't believe the airport is at that point yet.
“I don’t anticipate that we’re going to be in that position that we’re going to be able to turn people away, but it is always a potential," he told News 3.
That potential is only expected to increase, with demand in Norfolk pushing airlines to continue to add new flights and new destinations.
“We’re showing that we could be 2,000 spaces short of our future demand. Not today, but our future demand and so we need to act now," Perryman said. ”We’re planning to build additional parking facilities."
He says those plans are still in the early stages, with parking lots quicker to build than parking garages. Perryman says the airport's Garage D was built in a way that "it could be expanded."
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Then there's the near-billion-dollar expansion project, which includes a rental car facility that would see rental companies get their own parking deck. Companies currently occupy hundreds of spaces in the airport's Garage A, according to Perryman.
But all of these parking upgrades are still likely years away, so, in the meantime, Norfolk International Airport's leaders are asking travelers to plan ahead during this busy time of year.
“You’re planning your rental car at your destination, you’re planning where you’re going to eat. You need to plan where you’re going to park," said Perryman. ”We have plenty of parking, we just need to manage it.”
