Picking up your in-laws or visiting children from Norfolk International Airport should be quicker and easier this holiday season.
The airport’s newest parking lot, right around the corner from the arrivals curbside pickup, will open Dec. 19.
The airport already had what it calls its “cell phone lot,” where family, friends or rideshare drivers can park and wait for the ‘just got my luggage’ text from incoming travelers.
The new “park-and-wait” lot includes 80 spaces for cars waiting to pick up inbound loved ones and is about 45 seconds from the curbside pickup location, shaving minutes and several contentious turns off the trip from the existing cell phone lot.
Airport president Mark Perryman said that lot was a short-term solution he implemented when he took the helm of the airport a couple years ago and Norfolk’s arrivals pickup was mired in congestion.
“People here got used to almost picnicking out, camping out on the curb, which is a safety and security issue that we had to deal with,” Perryman said.
In the hundreds of airports Perryman visited as a consultant before coming to Norfolk, he said he never saw a cell phone lot as close to pickup as this new one.
“Most of them are like our other one, where you park way over and you get the phone call and you have to meander your way over to the airport. Here, it's easy in, easy out,” he said.
The airport is even considering bringing in a food truck for those waiting in the new lot.
“We want the passenger experience, which includes those who are picking up your loved ones or your business partners or whatever, we want that experience to be a good experience that you feel comfortable,” Perryman said.
To that end, the $1 million parking lot project is the first thing ticked off a $1 billion list of upgrades coming to ORF in the coming years.
An international arrivals facility for Customs and Border Patrol inspections is currently under construction — those driving from the new lot to the curbside pick up can see it as they breeze past.
“We don't have scheduled international traffic today, but we do handle charters and we handle diversions today,” Perryman said. “We are hoping in the very near future we'll have our own scheduled international arrivals here from airlines that are coming here and serving Hampton Roads.”
After the New Year, the moving sidewalk across the airport’s pedestrian bridge will make its long-awaited return. The first phase will open after the first of the year, while the sidewalk back will come a bit later.
The airport tore the old moving sidewalk out years ago due to extensive mechanical issues.
Gate expansions, new restrooms and restaurants, a lounge, a dedicated rental car facility and an airport hotel are also on the docket.
