Philadelphia International Airport to reopen 1,850 economy parking spots next week

PHILADELPHIA (WPVI) -- Officials at the Philadelphia International Airport tell Action News they plan to reopen 1,850 spots in the economy lot starting next week.

Beginning Thursday, April 21 the spots will be available for $15 a day.

This will be in place for the foreseeable future, officials said.

The economy lot, which provided 7,000 parking spots, has been closed since March 2020 after air travel came to a halt at the start of the pandemic.

Meanwhile, all airport garages are full for the upcoming holiday weekend, so officials said passengers are going to have to find another way to arrive at PHL.

Off-site parking services provided by companies such as The Parking Spot are one of many options near PHL that are also nearly full.

"It's pretty busy here, especially due to Easter weekend and also it's spring break time," said Maneesh Nair, general manager of The Parking Spot. "The earlier you book, the better rate you get."

Passenger Anthony Kuklinski, the police chief in Hamburg, Berks County, spoke to Action News on while on his way to Chicago.

He said paying to park off-site and then shuttling to the airport has become a newer option for him.

Kuklinski is used to shuttling from the economy lot when it was open.

"Over the holidays, it's always a mess. It's unfortunate they don't have their shuttle parking open," Kuklinski said.

Along with ride-sharing options, SEPTA is also another alternative.

SEPTA officials said the best option for riders is the Airport Regional Rail Line, which runs to and from PHL every 30 minutes on weekdays and hourly on weekends.

Officials also said there's plenty of room as SEPTA is still 50% below the number of riders before the pandemic.