Chattanooga airport lining up money for new parking garage

CHATTANOOGA (WDEF) – Chattanooga’s airport plans to take on its biggest loan to finance more parking to accommodate the growth of Lovell Field.

News 12’s Taylor Bishop spoke with airport officials on how soon we can expect the new changes.

“We’re excited about this phase and hope that everyone will be patient during the construction phase”

The Chattanooga Metropolitan Authority board voted Monday to loan 25 million dollars over the next 20 years from Pinnacle Bank to finance the airport’s first multi-story parking garage.

“Certain times of the year it gets crowded like right now and October is our busiest month and it will be crowded in October. Last year, we were out parking cars and shuttling people in just so they could find a space.”

Parking rates were raised earlier this year to help pay for the new facility.

“We don’t anticipate an increase in the rates anymore going forward for this length of time”

The four-level garage would go on what is now some of the short-term parking lot across from the existing rental car location.

“The first level will have the rental cars in it and the next three will have customers in it. So they rental cars will be at the bottom level, they will be covered so that customers won’t have to deal with the elements”

Chattanooga Airport officials hope these changes attract more travelers to the airport instead of flying out of other cities.

“If you live up here it’s nice to not have to drive to Atlanta not know what the traffic is like, finding a parking space,and then the security lines down there tend to get long certain times of the year”

Reporting at Chattanooga Airport, Taylor Bishop News 12 Now.