The Facts About The Orlando Airport

By Chris Linch

The largest airport in Florida is located in Orange County. Known as MCO, the Orlando International Airport sits approximately 6.8 miles from Orlando. Located in the central business district, MCO is also the busiest airport in the state. In the year 2008, the Airports Council International ranked the Orlando International Airport as the 22nd busiest airport in the world. They received this award due to serving 35,622,252 passengers in 2008.

Orlando International Airport, also referred to as MCO, serves as a focus city of Southwest Airlines and JetBlue Airways. MCO also serves as a hub for AirTran Airways housing their corporate headquarters and operations center. Four main passenger terminals and 97 gates make up the Orlando International Airport. Many parking options are available and are conveniently located close to the terminals. Depending on your length of stay at the airport, parking options include two terminal parking garages and topside terminal parking.

Free of charge, the Cell Phone Lot offers passenger pick-up parking for short-term periods. You may park your car in the lot while you wait for passengers to call. Once you have received the call, you may find the curbside baggage claim area to pick-up your passengers.

For parking further from the terminal than the Terminal Parking Garages, parking is allowed in the Satellite Parking lots. A free shuttle service provided by the airport transports passengers between the satellite lots to the main terminals. Rates for parking in the satellite lots are $4 for the first three hours; after 3 hours, a rate of $10 for every 24-hour period is charged. However, parking in the Satellite lots for less than ten minutes is free. It is prohibited to park in the Satellite lots for more than 120 days.

The Terminal parking garages are comprised of a total 9,300 parking spaces. Not only are all the spaces located under cover of garages, all are within walking distance to the main terminals. Free of charge, a grace period of 40 minutes is allowed if you enter the lot and exit before the allotted time is up. For parking stays longer than 40 minutes, a $1 per twenty minutes fee is charged. A limit of $17 per day can be charged for Terminal parking. Parking in the Terminal parking is prohibited beyond 60 days.

To save a little money on long term parking at the Orlando International Airport, you may choose to park at an off-site privately operated parking facility. This may also be an option for those who can't find parking at the Airport. Located a short distance from Orlando International Airport, most of these private parking sites offer free airport shuttle service. Daily rates can be as low as $4.50 for offsite parking. - 30214

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