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Phoenix Sky Harbor International Airport is the ninth largest airport in the United States serving around 38,554,53 customers per year. The Phoenix airport offers many different flight services from 17 different airlines including commercial, general aviation, military & cargo flights.
It's peak year for business has been 2007 where the airport saw over 42 million passengers. With the recession that hit in the fall of 2008, there has been some drop-off, but not nearly as bad as many airports throughout the country. 2010 saw over 38 million passengers grace the airport and use the services provided.
Currently, Terminal 4 is the home of Southwest Airlines and US Airways which service about 32 million passengers per year. On Average Sky Harbor sees about 100,000 passengers each days with the addition of around 125,000 people including employees, family & drivers. The airport typically has 1600 take-offs & landings in one day. Sky Harbor has three working terminals with over 100 gates. Some might ask how is this possible when there is a terminal 4? Terminal 1 was built in 1952 and operated solely until 1962, because of the increase in traffic Sky Harbor expanded in a major way and built Terminal 4 in the 1980's. Terminal 1 was then closed shortly after. Phoenix Sky Harbor is located just a few minutes from downtown Phoenix and Arizona State University located in Tempe, Arizona.
Before we talk about cars and reservations, we have to mention the 'Gourmet to Go' food store at the rental car area in the airport. No, you're not going to get a one-hundred dollar stead, but there are salads and sandwiches, and for most weary travelers, that's enough for now.
One of the things the Gourmet to Go does is serve entrees that can be taken back to the hotel, warmed up, and eating without going out to try to find something to eat in a foreign town. And for the most part, the prices are not bad. You may pay a small premium for the convenience, but for many airport travelers, it's worth it.
You have many options when considering a rental car at the Sky Harbor. Companies like Alamo, Advantage, Payless, Fox and Hertz (among others) offer top-notch service at top-notch prices, Monday thru Friday. And hours are pretty convenient as well, operating from 8:30 am to 5:00 pm.
The actual rental car center (where the rental cars are) is situated just west of the airport, on the other side of the Papago Freeway. The facility is obtained by a common shuttle service that goes back and forth, about every five minutes or so.
If traveling to the city of Phoenix, you will travel North on E. Sky Harbour Circle to E. Buckeye Rd. Turn left, then right on S. 16th St. Drive less than one mile and turn left on E. Washington into the heart of Phoenix.
When returning your rental car, you will want to re-fuel before returning your rental car back to the airport. There are multiple gas stations on E. Washington. Any of them would make a fine choice to re-fuel.
Besides car rental, the Sky Harbor offers a wide variety of eateries within each terminal at the airport. Customers can find places to eat, shop & play. Currently the airport offers several different eateries in Terminal 2 such as Round Table Pizza, Paradise Bakery Café, Octillo Cafe (Burger Pictured Below) Coffee Bean & Tea Leaf & Wendy's and for the adults, two restaurants with a bar-like atmosphere Phoenix All-Star Sports Bar & Ocotillo Sun. At Terminal 2 customers will also find various shops and travelmart's including CNBC. In Terminal 3 customers will find a few more restaurants for a nice sit down lunch or dinner like Dick Clark’s American Bandstand Grill, Jackalope Flats Bar, & Taberna del Tequila. Fast food eateries include; Blue Burrito, Kokopeli Deli, Paradise Bakery Café, Sbarros, The Italian Eatery, Starbucks & Wendy’s. Terminal 4 is the largest terminal at Phoenix Sky Harbor Airport, it currently offers over 23 fast food restaurants like Wendy's, Starbucks, Chili's Too, Pizza Hut & California Pizza Kitchen to name a few & 12th Fairway Bar & Grill, Desert Springs Brewing Company, Flo’s Shanghai Cafe, BarFly, Home Turf Bar, Jackalope Flats Bar, Martini Bistro, Roadhouse 66 Bar & Taberna del Tequila for bar like atmospheres.
Terminal 4 also offers over 31 shops including the AzCentral.com gift shop. Throughout the airport passengers can utilize ATM's, Free WiFi, A Children's Play Area, Phoenix Airport Museum Exhibitions & a Military & Veterans Hospitality Room.
10 years ago an idea was placed on the table, that idea consisted of a train that would smoothly route passengers from the existing METRO light rail system overstating in Phoenix, to their correct terminal within the airport. Today the first sky train car has been unveiled for the public to view.
The sky train project is expected to be completed within the first quarter of 2013 and will be able to cut down traffic through Sky Harbor about 20,000 cars per day. The first Terminal to have access to the new sky train system will of course be, Terminal 4. In 2015 an extension will be completed to the remaining terminals and then finally in 2020 the project will be completed with full access to the Rental Car Center which is located across the street from the actual airport. The Sky Train service will be offered to the passengers for free with cars running every three minutes during peak airport hours with an expected ride time of five minutes.
Coming out of the car rental center is fairly easy. You will have options on which road to take. Highway 10 (The Papago Freeway) and Highway 17 (The Black Canyon Freeway) will provide access to just about anywhere around the area. We have listed some top things to do while in Phoenix, along with some car rental driving distances to get there.
Airport to Musical Instrument Museum, 20 Miles.
Airport to Desert Botanical Gardens, 8 Miles.
Airport to Phoenix Children's Museum, 12 Miles.
Airport to Camelback Mountain (Echo Canyon Park), 10 Miles.
Airport to Chase Field (Arizona Diamondbacks) 3 Miles.
Airport to Phoenix Zoo, 8 Miles.
Airport to Western Destinations, 23 Miles
Airport to Grand Canyon, 227 Miles. (You'll definitely want to take I-17 North to the Grand Canyon)
Phoenix streets are planned pretty well. For example, Streets and Places are situated to the East of Central Avenue, while Drives, Lanes and Avenues are always west of Central. Good tip.
Virtually any and every car will be available to you at the Sky Harbor Airport. One rule of thumb, however. The more expensive the rental vehicle, the earlier you should pre-book. The Minivans and luxury cars (Think Mercedes) generally run out of stock a little quicker than the smaller, less expensive vehicles. So pre-book early if you want one of those. Thanks for shopping with Eurocar Rental. We hope you enjoy your Phoenix Airport Car Rental experience.
Source: http://www.skyharbor.com