NORFOLK, Va. (WAVY) — As Norfolk International Airport continues to see airlines add additional flights, their leadership is concerned parking on property could become scarce during the busy summer travel season.
Over the next two months, a total of seven new nonstop flights will begin flying from ORF. New destinations include San Diego, which was one of the airports top underserved locations, and San Juan, Puerto Rico, which marks the regions first nonstop flight to the Caribbean.
When those additional seats are combined with the already normal increase in flights seen each summer, the amount of total one-way seats offered a month will increase by more than 25% by July, according to data provided by the Norfolk Airport Authority.
Mark Perryman, the authority’s President and CEO, said while he celebrates the new service offerings, it could create a parking problem.
“During spring break, we were within 10% of our capacity this year. So that means we had very few parking stalls available for the public, should they have needed to come here,” Perryman said. “So I imagine this summer, if spring break, we were 90% full, we’re going to see days or weeks this summer we are going to exceed that same number.”
Norfolk International has seen 14 consecutive months of record-setting passenger activity, according to the authority. In 2023, 4.5 million passengers passed through its concourse. It currently has 9,235 spots on site.
While the airport has embarked on an ambitious $850 million plan to renovate the airport, including building a new rental car facility that will free up additional parking spaces, Perryman said in the short-term, there aren’t many options.
He encourages people to plan ahead and take advantage of the airports Parking Loyalty Program.
“It’s an advanced reservation system that you can actually get a discount if you book in advance and we refund it if the plane cancels and things like that,” Perryman explained.” But it at least allows you as a traveling public to know you’ve got a place to park, helps us manage it from the airport side so that we can manage our flow and our parking spaces a little bit better during those peak times.”
There is no cost to participate in the program.
