"Florida airports to be packed over the Memorial Day weekend"

Thursday, May 25, 2006

Airports to be packed over the Memorial Day weekend
By Michael Turnbell 
The South Florida Sun-Sentinel

 
Expect the nation's airports and planes to be packed as 21 million people
take to the air over the Memorial Day holiday, kicking off the busiest
summer air travel season since the Sept. 11 attacks.

The message for anyone headed to South Florida's three major airports is the
same: Arrive early and allow yourself plenty of time to find parking.
 
Fort Lauderdale-Hollywood International Airport projects 50,000 to 60,000
passengers a day through Monday, with the busiest day expected Friday.

It will be a busy week but the terminals won't be as crammed as in previous
years, said airport spokesman Steve Belleme.

Delta, USAirways and American Airlines have cut back flights and reduced
seats in the last few months, Belleme said.

The Transportation Security Administration said 200 million people will fly
between Memorial Day and Labor Day. The Air Transport Association says it
expects 21 million people to fly during the Memorial Day holiday.

At the same time, airlines have fewer domestic seats to sell than past
summers because of rising fuel prices. Larger 767s have been shifted to
international routes and replaced with smaller planes.

"In Delta's case, they can make more money putting the wide-bodied planes on
international routes," Belleme said. "With the other carriers, the price of
fuel and the cost to operate is so high that in order to break even, the
planes have to be full."

Delta, the largest carrier at Fort Lauderdale-Hollywood, was down 13 percent
in April, carrying 44,000 fewer passengers. USAirways decreased 13 percent,
or 32,000 passengers. American Airlines dropped 7 percent, or 13,000
passengers.

"We've had a reduction in capacity of about 9 to 10 percent," Belleme said.

The Fort Lauderdale airport is bracing for 14,000 cars to jam its garages
and lots, an increase over last year's 12,843. And that's with the recent
addition of 5,000 parking spaces atop the new rental car building.

"We're getting a lot of people coming back to the airport to park who looked
elsewhere before," Belleme said.

At Palm Beach International Airport, travelers can park in the airport's
Park & Ride lot and take a shuttle to the terminal if the main garage is
full. "It fills up on regular weekends," said airport spokeswoman Lisa De La
Rionda.

Construction of a new 3,200-space garage to ease the crunch will begin this
summer and take 18 months.

Some people will pay more for parking at PBIA thanks to a rate increase that
went into effect May 1. The cost of short-term parking went up to $16 from
$12 a day. Long-term parking increased to $12 from $10 a day and the Park &
Ride lot went to $6 from $5 a day.

The airport doesn't issue travel projections for Memorial Day.

At Miami International Airport, which expects about 100,000 passengers a day
through Monday, visitors can park for free in a new "cell phone lot" at
LeJeune Road and Northwest 31st Street. The lot, which allows people to wait
for a phone call from arriving passengers without holding up traffic, is
open only during daylight hours until lights are installed.

"It's pretty convenient. You can avoid the gridlock and circling in front of
the terminal numerous times," said Miami airport spokesman Greg Chin.

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