Asheville Regional Airport will soon break ground on an additional parking lot to help keep up with record growth in recent years.
“When you see this kind of growth, that means there are a lot more people at the airport, a lot more cars arriving to park at the airport, and we need places to put those cars,” said Tina Kinsey, Vice President of Marketing, PR & Air Service Development.
Besides 2020 and 2021, Kinsey said the airport has seen record growth every year since 2015, with 43% growth in 2019 and 29% growth in 2022.
“Long-term planning means that, eventually, we’ll have to look at other parking options,” Kinsey said.
The level of growth has led to the need for more immediate solutions for parking in the short-term, including new parking lots built last year.
Right now, the airport has 2,819 parking spaces. A remote lot to be built south of a neighboring gas station will add an estimated 500-600 spaces. The airport will close a temporary remote lot once the new lot is complete, leaving a net a gain of about 400 spaces.
“We’re doing everything we can to provide positive customer experiences, and we ask for patience as we continue to move forward with construction projects,” Kinsey said.
The new lot is expected to be open by Thanksgiving. Construction should begin in the next few weeks.