IDeaS: The Role of Capacity Planning in Airport Parking Success

Air travel is soaring to new heights, with passenger numbers expected to double by 2040. For airports, this growth isn’t just about managing the skies—it’s also about optimizing the ground—and more specifically, parking. Whether for self-driving customers, ride-shares, taxis, or rental cars, the strategic planning of parking space capacity and usage is critical for future-proofing revenue streams and customer satisfaction.

If you’re in airport management, the time to ask yourself key questions about parking capacity is now. The decisions you make today could have significant and long-lasting effects on profitability, customer experience, and operational efficiency.

Why Capacity Planning Matters

For every airport, future car parking needs depend on a combination of forecasted variables and investment decisions. Getting it right can mean millions in additional revenue. But the challenge lies in understanding and adapting several factors:

• Evolving Travel Patterns: How will shifting passenger numbers impact parking demand?
• Shifting Transportation Preferences: How will the rise of ride-shares, taxis, and car rentals affect parking usage?
• Long-Term Horizons: Planning for the next 20 years requires precision, adaptability, and robust forecasting.

Without a clear strategy, airports risk missing opportunities or making costly missteps.

The IDeaS Advantage

IDeaS’ approach to capacity planning combines science, advanced analytics, deep industry expertise, and cutting-edge methodologies to help you make confident, data-driven decisions.

Here’s how we can help you navigate the complexities of capacity planning:

• Unconstrained Demand Forecasts: Understand the true demand for parking across all segments, assuming unlimited capacity. In other words, answering “If we had infinite spaces, how many could we fill?”
• Constrained Demand Forecasts: Forecast demand in a do-nothing scenario, providing a baseline for comparison with unconstrained demand.
• Insights into Overflow Demand Dynamics: Analyze how demand shifts when preferred (typically lower-cost) parking options are full and calculate the revenue impact.
• Occupancy Insights: Explore the relationship between passenger counts and occupancy rates and examine how this correlation has evolved over time.

Capacity planning isn’t just about meeting today’s needs—it’s about anticipating tomorrow’s opportunities. Whether it’s reconfiguring existing spaces, optimizing pricing strategies, or planning entirely new parking facilities, IDeaS’ data-driven approach ensures that every decision aligns with your airport’s strategic goals.

As passenger numbers rise and mobility preferences evolve, airports must rethink how parking spaces contribute to their bottom line. With IDeaS as your airport parking partner, you can with confidence, ensuring maximum value from every square meter.

Are you ready to future-proof your airport’s parking strategy? Contact IDeaS today to learn how we can help you unlock the full potential of your parking capacity.

About IDeaS 

IDeaS a SAS company, is the world’s leading provider of revenue management software and services. With over 30 years of expertise, IDeaS delivers revenue science to more than 30,000 properties in 154 countries. Combining industry knowledge with innovative, data-analytics technology, IDeaS creates sophisticated yet simple ways to empower revenue leaders with precise, automated decisions they can trust.

Results delivered. Revenue transformed.

Discover greater profitability at ideas.com.