IND ready to welcome Memorial Day travelers and the start of summer travel season

INDIANAPOLIS – Employees at the Indianapolis International Airport (IND) are ready to welcome travelers over the busy Memorial Day Weekend, which will include the 98th running of the Indianapolis 500. The holiday weekend, which draws many passengers visiting for the race, is also considered the unofficial kickoff of the summer travel season, a period of increased demand for air travel.

Memorial Day travelers taking advantage of the closest public parking lot available to the Col. H. Weir Cook Terminal Building will find an even smoother travel experience thanks to new shuttle bus tracking technology that has now been fully implemented. The new system allows passengers to track Economy Lot shuttle busses in real time and provides the arrival time of the next two busses during the short wait between parkIND® shuttles, which operate between the Economy Lot and the Ground Transportation Center.

Monitors indicating when the next two buses will arrive are now installed in each of the 13 Economy Lot shelters and on the curb of the Ground Transportation Center (GTC). Inside the GTC lobby, a large monitor displays the current location of each Economy Lot shuttle against an airport map.

Although parkIND® shuttles continuously and frequently ferry passengers between the Economy Lot and GTC, the monitors help confirm to passengers that the wait for the next bus will be a short one.

As always, passengers will be able to speed through the terminal as well, as IND will be amply staffed across all operational areas, including parking, ground transportation, ticket counters, curbside check-in, terminal services, retail and specialty shops, restaurants, public safety, law enforcement, and security screening.

Passengers are reminded that TSA procedures now allow children under the age of 12 and passengers who appear to be 75 and older to leave their shoes on during security screening. In addition, the TSA Pre✓TM program, which allows select frequent flyers of participating airlines and members of U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP) Trusted Traveler programs who are flying on participating airlines to receive expedited screening benefits, is operational at IND. More information is available at www.tsa.gov.

Race fans will also want to make time to visit the Indy 500 Grill and Brickyard Authentics gift store in Civic Plaza. The restaurant features numerous vintage photos and memorabilia from the speedway while the gift store sells authorized Indianapolis Motor Speedway merchandise.

SEASONAL AIR-TRAVEL TRENDS

According to AAA, 36.1 million people will take trips of 50 miles or more for the Memorial Day weekend, defined as May 22 through May 26, up 1.5 percent from 2013. That total includes 2.6 million who will travel by air, an increase of 2.4 percent from 2013 after a decline of 8 percent from 2012 to 2013.

For the first four months of 2014 at IND, the number of travelers is up 2 percent compared to 2013. Capacity, or the number of available seats for sale by airlines, is down 0.4 percent, while the average airfare for IND travelers is up 1.8 percent compared to the same period last year.

Looking ahead to the summer, Airlines for America, an airline trade group, forecasts approximately 210 million people will travel on U.S. airlines between June 1 and August 31, the highest such total in six years and up 1.5 percent from 2013. According to Orbitz, an online travel company, many of those passengers will be paying more this year, with airfares to this summer’s top 10 destinations up an average of 6 percent.

2014 MEMORIAL DAY WEEKEND AIRPORT VOLUMES

Overall, over 100,000 passengers are expected to travel through IND between Thursday and Monday, Memorial Day. Travel volumes at IND projected by TSA are estimated below:

Thursday: 21,470

Friday: 24,186

Saturday: 16,546

Sunday: 16,988

Monday: 26.438

Total: 105,628

Following are some capacity statistics for IND during the same period with a comparison to 2013:

PARK AT AIRPORT AND TAKE SHUTTLES TO TRACK

Indy 500 fans looking for a fast way to get to this year’s race will have a convenient option on race day at IND. Whether arriving on a flight or taking advantage of a special parking rate at the airport garage, racegoers will be able to catch a continuous shuttle service from IND between 8 a.m. and noon on Sunday. Return trips will run for two hours after the race ends; shuttles will also be available for early returns from the track.

Shuttle passengers who park at the airport’s Terminal Garage can obtain a $10 parking rate by showing an Indianapolis 500 race ticket and paying in cash. Non-cash payments and any payments not accompanied by the display of a race ticket will result in the regular rate applying ($18 daily maximum). Separate rates apply for valet services.

The shuttles will be provided by the SODREL Companies: The Free Enterprise System and Star of America Motor Coach Companies, in partnership with the Indianapolis Motor Speedway. Tickets, which cover roundtrip transportation, are $25 per person.

From the airport, shuttles will depart from Zone 1 of the Ground Transportation Center (GTC). Tickets can be purchased in the GTL lobby at the Star of America booth. Advance ticket ordering is available at www.indy500parking.com and www.indysportsparking.com

Returning shuttles will depart across from the main tunnel entrance in the main gate east parking lot at 16th and Polco streets.

More information is available at 888.206.0226.

About the Indianapolis Airport Authority

The Indianapolis Airport Authority owns and operates Indiana’s largest airport system. In addition to the Indianapolis International Airport, its facilities include the Downtown Heliport, Eagle Creek Airpark, Hendricks County Airport, Indianapolis Regional Airport, and Metropolitan Airport. IND has received numerous prestigious awards recognizing it as a leader within its class, including best airport in North America in 2010, 2012, and 2013 in Airports Council International’s annual Airport Service Quality awards. IND is the first airport in the U.S. to win LEED® certification for an entire terminal campus, and the airport has won additional recognition for excellent customer service, concessions programs, and art and architecture.

IND’s economic impact in Central Indiana is more than $4.5 billion annually, and about 10,000 people work at the airport each day. IND serves more than 7 million business and leisure travelers each year and averages 138 daily flights to 34 nonstop destinations. Home of the world's second-largest FedEx Express operation and the nation’s eighth-largest cargo facility, IND is committed to becoming the airport system of choice for both passenger and cargo service. For more information, visit IND’s Facebook page at Indianapolis International Airport and Twitter page at @INDairport