Clayton News Daily

Atlanta’s airport opened a “cell phone” parking/waiting lot, Thursday morning, for drivers who are there to pick up passengers, according to Hartsfield-Jackson Atlanta International Airport Spokesperson Katena Carvajales.

Carvajales said parking is free of charge at the 160-space lot, located along the South Terminal Parkway, at the east end of the Park-Ride Reserve lot at Hartsfield-Jackson.

Drivers can get to the parking lot through a new driveway on the right side of South Terminal Parkway. Motorists will see a “cell phone lot” sign outside the lot, she said.

Carvajales said drivers cannot leave their vehicles, while waiting to pick up a passenger, and airport officials will monitor the lot. This provision will be strictly enforced.

The airport is currently considering opening additional cell phone lots –– at the North Terminal, and at the Maynard H. Jackson, Jr. International Terminal, Carvajales said.

“Since I began at Hartsfield-Jackson, customers have asked for a cell phone lot, and I am happy that we now can provide it for them,” said Louis Miller, aviation general manager at Hartsfield-Jackson.

He said the lot will relieve traffic congestion on the airport’s roadways, and decrease the carbon footprint, by reducing emissions from idling vehicles waiting at the curbs.

Carvajales said drivers waiting at the cell phone lot can use their mobile devices, such as smartphones, to check flight times to see if their party’s flight is on schedule. They can check, she said, by visiting the airport’s mobile web site –– www.iflyatl.com.