ORLANDO, Florida – It’s no secret that finding parking at Orlando International Airport can sometimes be difficult.
And as the number of annual passengers increased from 35 million to nearly 58 million over the past decade, the situation has only gotten worse.
That’s why airport officials are considering a new plan that could free up thousands of existing garage parking spaces by relocating rental cars.
What you need to know
- Orlando International Airport could begin using a consolidated rental car facility to free up parking spaces
- Officials will present the concept at an industry forum next week
- If the plan is implemented, 4,500 parking spaces would be freed up
- The ConRAC would be located near Terminal C and visitors would get there using the People Mover.
It is called ConRAC (Consolidated Rental Car Facility) and is a concept that the airport management will present at an industry forum next week.
As airport management discusses the future of the project, it could change the future of travel at MCO.
Eugene Ryu considers himself lucky – on his last trip to Orlando International Airport, he only had to make a few laps around the terminal garage to find a parking space. He usually gives himself an extra hour or two before his flight so he can try to find a parking space.
“It can be frustrating, but I think I’ve gotten a little used to it,” Ryu said.
He flies out of MCO once or twice a month because, as a flight instructor, the sky is his office. But he’s tired of the headaches he has to endure on the ground to get there.
“I try to enjoy the dream,” Ryu said. “Sometimes it’s hard, but I try.”
Feedback about how difficult parking can be is an issue that Kevin Thibault, CEO of the Greater Orlando Aviation Authority, knows all too well as more people fly to and from Orlando each year.
“We’ve seen a lot of growth in the area, haven’t we?” Thibault said. “A lot of population growth, a lot of people wanting to travel and they’re using the airport as much, if not more, than ever before. And that’s put a strain on some of the parking needs we have here, so of course we’re trying to respond to that.”
He is turning his attention to the rental cars that have occupied parking spaces in Terminals A and B for 30 years. Now he wants to move them to a planned shared rental car facility in the hope of making parking easier for passengers, whether they arrive in their own cars or rent a car here.
“Then we can take the rental cars out of the garages – that will free up over 4,500 parking spaces in all three garages – and then house them in a common location,” Thibault said.
GOAA is considering housing rental cars in a consolidated facility to free up parking spaces in the terminal garages. (Rendering courtesy of GOAA)
Although the ConRAC concept is included in the airport’s investment plan, it is still in the early stages of development. Conceptual renderings show what it could look like in a few years.
Thibault explained that airport authorities currently plan to keep the ConRAC on site near Terminal C and that visitors will reach it via a passenger trolley.
“A lot of airports recently — big ones like O’Hare (Chicago), Newark (New Jersey), LAX (Los Angeles) — have implemented consolidated rental car facilities,” Thibault said. “They all just implemented consolidated rental car facilities. As you know, we’re one of the largest rental car markets in the world, and so LAX is one that’s very similar to us. So we used them as a kind of guide to say, ‘OK, size and scope, what were their considerations?'”
Those who rent a car from one of the 10 companies on site, like Catherine Hendricks and her friend who were visiting from Detroit, get excited at the thought of moving the rental cars out of the terminal garage.
“Yeah, it’s just a lot more convenient because you’re already on the people mover to go down from the terminal and pick up your luggage, you know, to the other side of the airport to pick up your luggage. So, yeah, I paid extra for that, so I didn’t have to do that,” said Hendricks, who likes to go straight from the terminal to the garage.
Although it may seem inconvenient to have to travel a long way to ConRAC, Thibault believes that having a one-stop shop and offering additional services to make the process smooth will make things easier for both car rental companies and their renters.
“When you return your rental car to the rental car center, we have a drop-off point at that location where you can drop off your luggage. So once you’ve dropped off your luggage, all you’re carrying is your carry-on luggage,” he said.
With that in mind, Hendricks said she would be willing to test drive the ConRAC.
“That would be great,” she said. “Hopefully they can make it work.”
The airport management’s goal is to announce the project by the end of the year and have it fully operational by 2030.
Although ConRAC is still a long way off, it is a welcome concept for passengers like Ryu.
“These changes sound exciting and for someone who will be working in and around airports, this would be a very helpful implementation for the future,” Ryu said.
Thibault, who announced last week his resignation effective January 2025 to focus on current health issues in his family, said the car rental companies they have discussed the concept with are fully behind the ConRAC.
To finance the project, the service fee paid by rental car customers will increase from $6 to $9 per day. This change will take effect on November 1.
Orlando International Airport is also taking some steps to improve parking in the short term. Airport authorities have added over 2,000 additional parking spaces, including three new spaces near the train station. They are also deploying a new parking reservation system in Garage C, expanding their partnership with the Lynx bus system, and installing a new parking identification system that uses red and green lights to alert drivers to available parking spaces to avoid endless circling and traffic jams.
