Taking off Travel blog

Entryway art for the new terminal by Joe C Nicholson

The new Indianapolis Airport opened in mid November. Here are ten things you should know about the new Indy Airport.

1. The new Indianapolis Airport has been planned for more than 30 years and cost $1.1 billion to build. No state or local tax dollars were used for this.
2. The terminal is 1.2 million square feet. You can see how it was built via the time lapse video here.
3. The airport is 16 minutes from downtown Indianapolis. The new address for the airport is 7800 Col. H. Weir Cook Memorial Drive, Indianapolis, IN 46241. Here’s a map.
4. The Indy Airport has special lanes in the security screening section for frequent flyers, travelers with special needs, families with young children and casual travelers. Once screened, you can move between concourses without needing to be rescreened. Here’s TSA’s guidance on technologies used at the new airport.
5. The Indy Airport was built with accessibility in mind to reduce climbing and walking distances.
6. There’s no need to park at the airport; valet parking is available for less just a short distance away at our Indy airport parking facility, Indy Park Ride and Fly.
7. It includes the first Indianapolis 500 Grill where you can eat and then shop for racing collectibles and clothes at Brickyard Authentics
8. The terminal has art by 15 artists - including local artists - showcasing a range of art forms and mediums. This includes poetry related to travel and flying. The original artwork cost almost $4 million
9. This is an environmentally friendly terminal, designed to reduce aircraft fuel use, use natural lighting where possible and promote recycling, with stations for glass, paper and aluminum throughout. There’s also no need for shuttles to rental cars.
10. Baggage handling is speedy, with bags checked in curbside screened and sent to the planes, and arriving baggage getting to the carousels within two minutes.  

Indy Park Ride & Fly

Indy Park Ride & Fly and 1st Class Express Airport Parking, two offsite airport parking facilities servicing Indianapolis International Airport (IND) have merged to create a bigger, better Indy Park Ride & Fly in conjunction with the opening of the airport’s new Midfield terminal.

“After 11 years and over 1.5 million parking stays, we’re extremely excited to relocate to the new Midfield terminal,” says Amy Strohmeyer, Indy Park Ride & Fly’s General Manager. “Our new Indy Park Ride & Fly facility will hold more than 2300 cars, and will be the largest off airport parking operation servicing the new Midfield terminal.”

This Ronald Reagan Parkway facility offers the same outstanding, hassle-free service as before, plus more parking spaces, long-term or short-term parking, car care services, enhanced self-parking option, free shuttles to the airport and back, 24 hour surveillance, secure, fenced-in lots, complimentary luggage assistance and more. For an even faster airport parking experience, travelers can sign-up for the Indy BizXpress Fast Pass member program, which will allow them to simply drive in, park, ride & fly.

Another brand-new bonus offer  available at this new Indianapolis airport parking facility is Long-weekend Savings. When traveling from Thursdays to Mondays between November 13th, 2008 and March 2nd, 2009, customers will save more than 40% on Indianapolis Airport parking with discounted rates as low as $6.00 a day. Read more »

Indianapolis - the name means Indiana City - has been the state capital of Indiana since 1820. It’s the largest city in the state, one of the largest in the US and is best known for hosting the Indy 500 race and other sporting and musical events such as the Indy Jazz Festival.

If you’re planning a trip to Indianapolis, you will soon be lucky enough to fly into the new Indianapolis International Airport (IND) passenger terminal which will open within the month. This is part of an airport redesign which has been underway since 2002. There’s also a brand new Indianapolis airport parking facility to go along with the rest of the planned improvements.

So aside from checking out the spanking new facilities, what else can you do on a layover in Indianapolis? Since Indianapolis International Airport isn’t far from the city, why not take the 15 minute ride to see what’s on offer downtown? Read more »