Parking at Charlotte Douglas International Airport may have gotten more expensive for travelers once again, following a price jump in June.
Now, travelers will have less free time in the airport’s hourly deck — just 15 free minutes before parking fees kick in at $6 an hour, with a $24 daily maximum fee.
After the first 15 minutes, the first $6 charge covers the remainder of that hour, according to the airport.
Previously, the first hour of parking in the hourly deck was free.
The change was first reported by the Charlotte Ledger Wednesday, and the policy appears on the airport’s website under parking details.
The policy went into effect January 11 and has been posted on signs at the airport, CLT told the Observer in a statement.
The change could especially affect drivers who need to help travelers into the airport and through check-in, something they won’t be able to do at the curb.
Designated handicap parking spots remain available on the curb front with access into the terminal building, according to the airport.
And the airport’s cell phone lot — where drivers can park while waiting to pick up a passenger from an arriving flight before driving to the terminal curb — remains free.
The 15-minute free parking policy is not new at the airport, CLT told the Observer in a statement.
When construction on the airport’s terminal curb front and roadways began in 2015, the airport extended its policy to give drivers an hour of free parking instead of 15 minutes.
The airport delayed plans to change the policy back to 15 minutes due to COVID-19, CLT told the Observer.
“The terminal roadway construction projects are completed,” an airport representative said in a statement. “Passenger traffic is also increasing and creating demand for hourly parking.”
The hourly lot, a $120 million construction project for the airport, opened in November 2019, the Observer reported at the time. The first hour was free then too — though prices were lower.
In July, the airport raised prices for the hourly lot along with most of its other parking options, except for the curbside valet rate of $35.
Here’s what changed:
▪ The maximum daily charge for the hourly deck moves from $20 to $24, a 20% increase.
▪ The daily charge for the express deck goes from $14 to $16, a 14% hike.
▪ The daily charge for the daily deck moves from $10 to $12, a 20% increase.
▪ And the daily charge for long-term lots goes from $7 to $10, a 43% hike.
That rate increase was scheduled for 2020 but was postponed due to the coronavirus pandemic, according to the airport.
Coronavirus recovery
The Charlotte airport saw a steep drop in passenger traffic in early 2020 as the COVID-19 pandemic hit North Carolina.
But the airport is getting closer to a full recovery, CLT announced Monday.
Over the last year, the airport served 43 million travelers, up 59% from the 27 million passengers who traveled through the Charlotte airport in 2020.
Last year’s tally is 86% of the record-breaking 50.2 million passengers who traveled to, from and through CLT in 2019, according to the airport.
And the airport predicts it could make a full recovery in passenger numbers by 2023 — a year earlier than previously predicted.
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