Jan. 3—NEW HAVEN — Think about preparing for an Avelo Airways flight at and all of the sudden studying that driving to Tweed New Haven Regional Airport is not an choice and you must get dropped off or park 5 miles away and catch a bus.
Or think about driving to the airport to catch that flight and studying upon arrival that parking is full and you must drive 5.2 miles throughout the Pearl Harbor Memorial Bridge to Union Station in New Haven, search for parking there after which catch a bus, cab or experience share again to Tweed.
It may occur.
Over the vacations, even when for under a short while, parking was full to capability at Tweed New Haven Regional Airport.
“On account of vacation journey demand, all parking heaps at HVN are at capability,” Tweed posted on its official Fb web page Dec. 26. “Till additional discover, drops off solely. For different parking choices, go to parkhvn.com.”
Officers from Tweed and Avports, the corporate that operates Tweed, mentioned they know of nobody who drove to the airport solely to seek out out the airport’s three parking heaps have been full.
They mentioned they’re working to supply extra parking for the brief time period — and extra parking is a part of the plan when Tweed in the end implements its $100 million enlargement, which additionally will embrace a brand new terminal on the East Haven facet of the airport.
However that is an enlargement proposal for which Tweed — which has been issued cease-and-desist orders by the town twice in latest weeks for permitting individuals to park in unapproved areas — has but to formally apply.
“Each day, we’re working to seek out options to verify our passengers can benefit from the comfort” of flying out of Tweed, mentioned Sean Scanlon, the now-former Tweed New Haven Airport Authority government director who was to take the oath of workplace to change into Connecticut’s new state comptroller on Wednesday.
Scanlon spoke simply earlier than leaving the Tweed job on the finish of December.
“If now we have areas, we discover areas for them,” but when heaps are all full, vacationers want to make use of options, Scanlon mentioned. “Once more, it is a irritating scenario that adjustments by the hour. … We’ve got the web site there for individuals to assessment.”
As well as, vacationers with Avelo flight bookings get emails to allow them to know whether or not parking is close to capability and they need to go to parkhvn.com to verify their choices, Scanlon mentioned.
The times surrounding Thanksgiving and Christmas this 12 months “was the busiest time we have ever had in most likely 30-plus years on the airport,” Scanlon mentioned. “I believe we had about 25,000 individuals” undergo Tweed, he mentioned.
“We at all times urge individuals to go to parkhvn.com the place they’ll see in real-time what number of areas are left,” Scanlon mentioned.
The parking crunch appeared to have dissipated by this week, in accordance with parkhvn.com. As of 2:30 p.m. Tuesday, there have been 17 parking areas out there in Tweed’s closest Lot A, 92 areas out there within the adjoining Lot B and 335 areas out there within the bigger, extra distant Lot C behind the terminal.
Andrew King, spokesman for Avports, mentioned to the most effective of his data nobody was turned away who confirmed as much as park at Tweed.
“We stored a list of areas particularly for the individuals who haven’t got time to go wherever else,” he mentioned. “We additionally despatched emails out to anyone who is perhaps affected to inform them that it is drop-offs solely.”
“The parking crunch was a short-lived concern. It solely lasted perhaps two days. … We by no means needed to flip individuals away,” King mentioned.
He identified that Tweed has an software pending earlier than the Metropolis Plan Fee for 34 extra parking areas that can be heard on Jan. 25.
In the meantime, “we proceed to work with the town and we proceed to work with East Haven on the long-term a part of the challenge, which is able to embrace extra parking, clearly,” King mentioned. “I believe all of this factors to a brand new, trendy terminal and extra parking, as detailed within the grasp plan.”
Michael Jones, CEO of The New HVN LLC, the Avports subsidiary that runs Tweed, mentioned “parking at HVN is a narrative of nice customer support. Setting expectations after which assembly them is essential to an distinctive touring expertise.
“From the time a buyer books a ticket all through their return, we’re targeted on delivering up-to-date data that empowers the shopper to handle their journey,” he mentioned in a written assertion. “When parking is close to capability, as a result of now we have an excellent accomplice in Avelo, now we have the bizarre means to speak on to passengers to verify they know the numerous choices out there.
“Whereas parking could typically attain capability, we glance to supply quite a lot of choices to fulfill passenger wants,” Jones mentioned.
Avelo spokesman Jim Olson mentioned Avelo is working with Tweed to make issues as clean as potential for passengers.
“We’re dedicated to offering a constructive and handy expertise for our clients all through their journey with Avelo,” Olson mentioned in an electronic mail. “We work carefully with Tweed New Haven Airport to assist guarantee their journey to and from the airport is as clean as potential.
“We all know parking on the airport does attain capability at occasions — particularly throughout fashionable journey durations just like the end-of-year vacation season,” Olson mentioned. “One of many methods we’re serving to our clients is by proactively and straight speaking with them previous to their departure by means of each SMS / Textual content and electronic mail.
“For instance, we despatched messages straight greater than 10,000 clients over the previous couple weeks reminding them that parking would possibly attain capability and to verify the HVN web site for lot availability, offsite parking choices, in addition to various floor transportation choices, reminiscent of Lyft or taxi providers,” he mentioned.
Colorado-based aviation marketing consultant Michael Boyd mentioned Tweed’s rising pains are a very good factor.
“When new service ranges all of the sudden outstrip airport capability — significantly at an airport that has been basically moribund for years like HVN — it’s validation of the Avelo idea,” Boyd mentioned.
“HVN has reworked from a dying network-airline spoke airport to a brand new position as a leisure-product gateway for the Connecticut coast,” he mentioned. “So, if parking is tight, that is stable proof of extra wanted funding.
“To have invested in it a 12 months in the past would have been very dangerous, because the Avelo program was new and any visitors estimates have been simply that,” Boyd mentioned.
What is going on on at Tweed just isn’t corresponding to points at different, giant airports which have confronted latest parking capability points, reminiscent of Miami and Syracuse, N.Y., Boyd mentioned.
“They’ve been in operation for years,” he mentioned of the bigger airports. “So far as Tweed is worried, Avelo is an entire new and really completely different air transportation system, in comparison with the previous service on the airport. So the actual story is the visitors quantity, and never the very fact it is making parking tough.”
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