Off-site rental car facility is on Will Rogers World Airport
officials' agenda
The Oklahoma City Airport Trust is expected to approve a contract to design a consolidated rental
car facility during its meeting Wednesday.
September 28, 2011
By Jennifer Palmer, The Oklahoman
The consolidated rental car facility Will Rogers World Airport officials have wanted for
years will be a step closer to reality if the design contract is awarded during
Wednesday's Oklahoma City Airport Trust meeting.
Trustees are expected to approve the $3.2 million contract with C. H. Guernsey & Company to
design an off-site rental car facility that will increase the number of available spaces for
rental cars and centralize operations. The favored location is on S Meridian Avenue
between SW 54 and Airport Road, across from Southwest Airlines' reservation center.
Mark Kranenburg, director of airports for Oklahoma City, said once the contract is
approved, the design firm can get started right away. He said he hopes to have the
design completed and construction started in 2012.
"This is very much a priority project for the airport," he said.
A study completed in 2009 estimated the construction cost of the facility at $32 million.
A customer facility charge, which has not yet been implemented, will fund the majority
of the project costs.
Current parking 'very deficient'
The airport recently expanded the number of rental car spaces from 300 to 400 by
reallocating some from one of the public parking garages. But they need about 650
spaces to keep up with current customer demand, Kranenburg said.
Often, the rental car companies who do business at Will Rogers run out of cars
midweek, he said.
"We are very deficient on the amount of cars we have available to rent. One of the main goals is to handle current capacity but also look down the road 10 to 15 years so we can
expand," he said.
The new facility will have wash bays, fueling stations, counter operations,
administrative offices and fleet storage for the rental car companies.
Travelers will have about a two-minute shuttle ride from the airport to the facility.
Many, if not most, airports have adopted this model.
"Anyone who travels most likely has been to a facility like this if they rent a car," Kranenburg said.
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