In a year that has hit consumers with price increase after price increase, a strange thing happened at Newark Liberty International Airport on Friday: the drive-up rate to park your car went down.
No, don’t pinch yourself. It’s not a dream.
“The drive-up rates decreased,” said Cheryl Ann Albiez, a Port Authority spokesperson.
After being raised earlier this summer, the drive-up parking rates at Newark dropped from the old rate of between $60 and $70, depending on the lot, to a new rate of between $40 and $65. The drive-up rate stayed at $29 for parking at the further “economy lot.”
Parking rates at all three metro area airports — Newark, LaGuardia and JFK — went down on Friday after the Authority rolled back a summer period surcharge. That charge started on July 15 due to a surge in travelers driving to the airports in private vehicles, straining the “on-airport” parking facilities, the Authority stated.
Officials promised to look at parking rates after the summer travel season ended.
To manage parking over the summer, Port Authority officials offered a break to travelers who pre-booked parking 48 hours in advance on the airports’ websites. They were charged the old rate, avoiding the surcharge.
Drivers who pre-book will continue to receive a discounted price of $21 to $44 at Newark airport, depending on the lot.
Passenger volume in the Authority’s airports is close to pre-COVID 2019 traffic levels. In July 2022, the Port Authority’s airports handled a total of 12.2 million passengers, which was 93% of pre-pandemic July 2019 volumes.
Airport passenger volumes increased 6% from June 2022, when the airport served 11.5 million passengers, the Authority reported in August.
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Larry Higgs may be reached at lhiggs@njadvancemedia.com.