Park ‘N Fly, a longtime popular car park for air travelers using Fort Lauderdale-Hollywood International Airport, is permanently closing on June 27 and is referring customers to two other area operators.

Signs posted Wednesday at the lot’s entrance at 2200 NE 7th Ave, Dania Beach, advise customers to call a toll free number, 800-404-7275, for refunds if they are holding reservations beyond the shutdown date. The expansive lot is located between U.S. 1 and Port Everglades, just beyond the end point of I-595.

There was no immediate reason given for the shutdown and a spokesperson for the Atlanta-based company, which operates airport area parking sites nationwide, was not immediately available for comment.

The company’s website says all reservations at the Dania Beach facility “with a departure date after 26th June 2022 have been cancelled and refunds will occur in 3 to 5 business days. If you have any questions, please contact us at park@pnf.com.”

Two alternatives

The company is referring customers to two “trusted partners” in the area, according to the website, They are Park ‘N Go at 1101 Eller Dr. in Fort Lauderdale, and Self Park FLL, at 901 Old Griffin Road, Dania Beach.

At Park ‘N Go, online rates start at $8.99 a day and the company provides free shuttles to and from the airport.

Self Park FLL online rates start at $9.95 a day and the company also provides 24-hour complimentary shuttles to the airport.

Generally, off-site parking is cheaper than the on-site garage parking rates charged by airport operators. Rates posted on the Fort Lauderdale airport website include $3 an hour with a $15 daily maximum for long-term parking. Short-term parking is $3 an hour with a $36 daily maximum. A valet service goes for $25 a day.

Despite the alternatives, Tamarac resident Neil Rosenberg said he’ll miss Park ‘N Fly’s reduced rates and wondered if there will be enough off-site parking spaces for travelers headed for the airport and cruise line passengers bound for ships docked at Port Everglades.

“I think it’s going to make it a much more difficult venture for people who want reduced rate parking,” he said. “When I parked my car a week ago they were so crowded they were parking cars by the curb.”

But the service was prompt, he said.

“Not only were they inexpensive, but they were extremely efficient at what they did,” Rosenberg said. “They got you to the airport very quickly. And when it was time to be picked up, typically you didn’t have to wait more than 15 minutes.”

The Fort Lauderdale area is not the only major metropolitan region to lose Park ‘N Fly.

The company website says its parking services near Los Angeles International Airport, as well as those near airports in San Diego and Ontario, Calif., and in New Orleans, are permanently closed. Service in Nashville, Tennessee, is also closing, according to media reports, but the website does not mention the shutdown.

In addition, round-the-clock service outside Miami International Airport has been reduced to 5 a.m. to 12 a.m. midnight, according to the website.

Popular with business fliers — and monkeys

Founded in 1967, Park ‘N Fly bills itself as the first off-site parking company near airports that serves business travelers.

According to the website, the company offers online reservations, hand car washes and auto detailing, Jiffy Lube car services, luxury pet boarding with Pet Paradise Resorts, electric car charging stations powered by eVgo, valet parking, covered parking, bag check, kiosks for flight check-in, and a loyalty-based frequent parker program.

Over the years, Park ‘N Fly expanded its services to other Florida cities including Miami, Orlando, Tampa and Jacksonville.

But one feature that probably distinguished the Dania Beach Park ‘N Fly from all the rest: a vervet monkey colony that thrived in mangrove trees adjacent to the parking lot.

From time to time, they frolicked around and atop the parked automobiles. And Park ‘N Fly workers fed them trail mix and other treats near the office.

But construction got under way earlier this years on a sanctuary for the colony of monkeys, whose ancestors escaped from a breeding farm in the 1940s. The idea is to have an enclosure for the animals, who have occupied a nearby swampy forest for decades.