A major expansion of car parking provision at the region’s largest airport is set to start later this month.

Highlands and Islands Airports Limited is to create a 330 bay long term car park at Inverness Airport while short term parking is planned to be expanded next year. The move will address the lack of long stay parking at the airport and take the total number of available parking spaces to over 1,000 in the autumn.

The creation of the airport’s first long stay car park will provide environmental benefits by reducing the number of drop off and pick up journeys made to the airport by car. A crackdown on fly parking will also be implemented by HIAL once adequate parking is available on site.

Phase one of the project will see the long term car park completed in October followed by the expansion of short stay parking in car park three next year. The cost of the first phase parking expansion is in the region of £700,000.

In the first three months of the current operating year Inverness handled more than 185,000 passengers, a 26% increase on the same period last year. This year, the introduction of new routes to Dublin with Aer Arann and Newcastle and Leeds Bradford with Eastern Airways has contributed to continuing growth. Ryanair will launch a daily service between Inverness and Liverpool in October and the airport is expected to have handled around 800,000 passengers by the end of March next year.

Inverness Airport manager James Walton said: “Following our purchase of the terminal PFI concession company at Inverness in January we are now able to address the shortage of paid for parking at the airport.

“The long term car park will offer an appropriately priced product for travellers wishing to leave their cars for more than 24 hours while the ongoing demand for short stay parking will be addressed through the expansion of car park three at the entrance to the airport. Long stay parking should reduce the number of drop off and pick up journeys made to the airport by car which is part of our surface access strategy for the airport going forward.

“With sufficient on airport parking in place we will also no longer be tolerant of fly parking and we will introduce both physical and financial measures to eliminate it.

“With more than 1,000 on airport spaces available once the long term car park is completed we will be better able to meet the seasonal peaks in parking demand as the airport continues to expand. Income from non-aviation sources, such as car parking, will also play an important part in the airport’s financial development,” said Mr Walton.