In a major relief to people, the Calgary International Airport has announced to slash weekly parking rates by as much as 37 per cent with immediate effect. The new parkade was also announced on Thursday which would provide an additional 1,930 covered parking stalls besides enhancing the airport's total parking capacity to 7,480 stalls.

The parkade has 167 short-term stalls, 1,763 long-term stalls and facilities for handicapped parking. The new premium weekly parking rates are now down from $120 and $80 per week.

The Calgary Airport Authority recently launched express pay system last month that would allow people to pay for their parking before returning to their vehicle, according to Bob Schmitt, the Senior Vice-president of planning and engineering at the Calgary Airport.

Schmitt added, "The express pay system is more economical for us to operate because it does not take as much of a staffing complement, so we can pass that savings along to the customers."

Deputy Mayor Gord Lowe too hailed the decision of reducing charges and said that the reduced rates would help Calgarians and city visitors.