MEMPHIS, Tenn. — People will soon have to pay more to park at the Memphis International Airport (MEM).
The Memphis-Shelby County Airport Authority (MSCAA) Board of Commissioners announced in a press release Tuesday morning that they recently approved a plan to increase parking rates at the airport beginning Nov. 1, raising the daily rates for both the economy garage and surface overflow lots to $9.
The rates for the short-term and long-term lots will not change, according to the airport.
Airport officials said economy rates have remained $6 since the economy parking lot opened in 2011.
In the announcement, airport officials said the additional revenue from the price increase will be used to fund numerous critical improvements to the airport's parking system.
Improvements will include but are not limited to the following:
Additional parking shuttles
Improved signage and wayfinding
Enhancement and expansion of safety and security systems, including enhanced video camera surveillance
Reconfiguration and expansion of the yellow/east employee lot through two separate phases with increased shuttle service
Enhanced parking lot security measures
Installing a parking guidance system in the economy garage including space open indicator lights to ease navigation
Evaluation of the former off-site parking lot at Winchester Road and Airways Boulevard for the purpose of potential revitalization as an off-airport parking lot.
Currently, immediate parking improvements are expected to cost about $10 million.
Airport officials said parking enhancements are needed due to the airport experiencing a significant increase in passenger traffic in 2023, increased parking demand, and longer parking duration.
“The rapid passenger growth that MEM has experienced is a very positive development,” said Scott Brockman, MSCAA President and CEO, in the news release. “This growth has also created a need for us to enhance and improve our parking services at great expense and these rate adjustments will help to fund these upgrades.”
More information about MEM parking is available here.