Chances of parking for "free" at Hawke's Bay Airport have been reduced, after the airport yesterday halved its temporary 30-minute time limit.
The "new" reduced free parking time reverses a temporary parking tariff structure that increased free parking from 15 minutes to 30 minutes, just four months ago.
It was intended to last while the terminal building's redevelopment was carried out but an increase in "dwell" time had put significant pressure on the airport's carparking capacity, Hawke's Bay Airport operations manager Gareth Mentzer said.
"The reason we increased the free parking time was to improve the operational efficiency of our pick-up and drop-off area during the redevelopment of the airport's terminal. This area became a no waiting zone, so to accommodate this we increased the free parking
time.
"We've been closely monitoring the flow and impact of the parking facilities over the
last four months and unfortunately the change hasn't had the outcome we
anticipated. Instead, we have had a significant increase in congestion within the car
park, especially at peak times."