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Airport consultants outline parking, reservation and ATC coordination to ease peak congestion at Naples
Summary
Consultants briefed the Naples Airport Authority on demand-management tools — notice-of-arrival, parking reservations, targeted peak pricing and coordination with FAA metering — and the board directed staff to return with prioritized, budget-timed recommendations in June.
Consultants presenting a qualitative airfield congestion study told the Naples Airport Authority on April 15 that a short list of practical actions could reduce safety and operational stress during known peak periods.
Justin Lobb, deputy executive director, introduced Recondo and Associates’ qualitative assessment and said the study included industry outreach and FAA discussions designed to identify feasible options for Naples. Dave Ramachorty of Recondo said airport capacity varies with weather, fleet mix and national-system impacts and reported that 2025 operational demand increased slightly over 2024 — busiest‑month average daily operations rose from about 430 to about 437, and annual operations climbed from roughly 120,000 to over 123,000.
Ramachorty listed eight demand‑management strategies used at peer airports: air‑traffic‑control (ATC) metering, peak‑period pricing, drop‑and‑go procedures, notice‑of‑arrival systems, apron‑reservation systems, prior‑permission‑required (PPR) regimes, overflow parking and, in rare circumstances, temporary use of taxiways/runways. He stressed that ATC metering and airborne metering are FAA actions that the airport can request but not unilaterally impose.
Board members and staff focused on tools that the airport and its FBO could implement quickly. Staff and consultants recommended prioritizing a notice‑of‑arrival program and a parking‑reservation system for targeted peak holidays and trial peak‑day pricing for parking (rather than sweeping, continuous price changes). "Notice of arrival and reservation for parking, not for use of the runway, is where we've honed in on," Executive Director Chris Rosanski said, noting the Authority already uses seasonal pricing but lacks a robust day‑of peak system.
Several commissioners pressed for stronger community and tenant engagement on siting, pricing and operational details. Staff said portable noise/monitoring units are available for short‑term evaluation and recommended phasing any permanent systems. Commissioners also raised safety concerns tied to double‑stack and triple‑stack aircraft parking on extreme peak days and the operational difficulty of towing aircraft across active surfaces.
The board voted to ask staff, with input from the local aviation community, to return with prioritized recommendations synchronized to the June budget process so any adopted changes could be in place for the November start of the seasonal peak period. The motion was seconded and carried.
Next steps: staff will refine options, model likely effects on parking and ramp operations, propose a phased implementation (notice‑of‑arrival, reservations, then targeted peak pricing), and identify public engagement milestones and budget needs for the June board meeting.
