Dallas Love Field may raise airport parking rates between 7% and 44% at each of its garages now that air travel is recovering.
Business and international travelers made up a more significant percentage of air travel in the past. Those passengers are more likely to get a cab or use other drop-off services. Now, passengers traveling for pleasure make up a higher proportion of those boarding planes. They drive themselves to the airport, leaving their vehicles parked in airport garages overnight or longer.
Overnight parking leads to much fuller parking lots, even though the number of passengers is lower than before the pandemic. On Thanksgiving Day 2021, for example, the garages at Love Field had a maximum of five hundred spaces free, causing customers to circle the parking lot in search of a spot, leading to congested traffic and frustrated flyers.
To help mitigate the overcrowdedness, Love Field is planning rate hikes. In the oldest of the garages at Love Field, the rates would only raise $1 a day, from $15 to $16. The most significant jump would be the 44% increase in cost to park in Garage B. The price for a day would go from $9 to $13.
The price increase will affect the 12,000 parking spots in Love Field’s three garages and the 560 spaces reserved for valet service. The airport’s employee lot, “Love Connection,” will face no changes.
The airport’s director, Mark Duebner, stated in a presentation shared with the city council, “As customer demand returns to pre-pandemic levels, parking rates need to be adjusted to reduce demand.”
Love Field is not alone in increasing its parking costs. DFW International Airport has raised its rates from $24 to $27 a day in the Dallas area to ensure availability. The main goal is not to increase revenue, but to make sure that parking spaces do not run out.
While rates are rising at Love Field, they are still lower than at most airports, including those in other major Texas cities.
The highest rates in Texas are at DFW, followed by Austin, at $25 per day, and San Antonio, at $16 a day. Nationally, Denver International Airport had the most expensive average rates at $75 a day.
The Dallas City Council was briefed on the potential Love Field rate hikes on April 6.
