"KCI parking option includes car, pet care"

Tuesday, August 17, 2004

KCI parking option includes car, pet care
By MIKE RICE 
The Kansas City (MO) Star


A new facility at Kansas City International Airport not only lets fliers
park their car, but it also allows them to get an oil change and board
their pet.

The Parking Plaza@xxx, a 1,500-space lot, opened Monday at 11500 N.W.
Prairie View Road, which is near Interstate 29 and Northwest 112th
Street.

Among the optional services offered by the Parking Plaza@xxx are oil and
lube service, transmission and cooling system service, tire rotation,
dent removal, windshield repair, car wash and an off-site pet-boarding
service, according to owners Ed Collins and Leo Glynn.

The new facility comes on top of the 15,000-space, airport-owned economy
parking that opened at the KCI entrance about seven months ago. And The
Parking Spot, a private company that opened in 1999, added about 500
spots last year for a total of nearly 2,000 covered and uncovered spaces
at Cookingham Drive and I-29. Several rental car agencies near the
airport offer parking service as well.

Daily departures at KCI have been growing since last fall after two
years of monthly declines following the Sept. 11, 2001, terror attacks.
Daily departures in May averaged 14,637, compared to an average of
13,904 departures in May 2003, according to the most recent statistics
from the city aviation department.

Parking at The Parking Plaza@xxx costs $7 a day. That fee includes valet
parking and a shuttle to and from the airport. The facility, which has
100 employees, operates six shuttle buses that run every five to seven
minutes, 24 hours a day, said Barbara Chace, director of guest relations
for the business.

Collins and Glynn take pride in the oil-and-lube system, which services
cars on a conveyor system line for $24.95. It can handle as many as 400
vehicles a day. The pet-boarding system, which is being coordinated with
a Northland veterinary service, offers four separate packages. Options
include walks, baths, luxury bedding, treats from a bakery and Web cam
viewing.

Collins and Glynn declined to say how much the parking facility cost to
build or what they project revenues to be.

KCI spokesman Joe McBride said the airport welcomes the competition.

"We think we have the distinct advantage because of our location, which
makes us the closest to the airport," McBride said. "But having more
competition at KCI's doorstep makes us try our best to give the best
product possible."

The economy lot at KCI, which charges $5 a day, has three sections, each
dedicated to one of the airport's three terminals - A, B and C. Shuttle
buses take people straight to and from their terminal without stopping
at the other ones.

Usage at the economy lot in July was up 7.5 percent from that at the
satellite lot in July 2003, McBride said.

The Parking Spot charges $7 a day for uncovered spaces and $9 a day for
covered ones.

First Glance 

. The Parking Plaza@xxx, which opened Monday, offers 1,500 parking
spaces for travelers out of Kansas City International Airport, as well
as a variety of vehicle and pet-boarding services.

. For more information about the facility, call (816) 464-3999 or visit
its Web site at www.parkkci.com.

According to the Kansas City Aviation Department, the economy lots at
KCI have seen an 8.2 percent increase in business year to date compared
to last year. 

Parking lot tickets

Jan. - July 2004 301,232

Jan. - July 2003 278,456


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