HEBRON — The Sept. 11 attacks continue to have a dramatic impact at the Cincinnati/Northern Kentucky International Airport for all the obvious reasons, and some not so apparent ones.

        As passengers have slowly returned, parking is an issue, both operationally and financially. Post-attack federal mandates have forced the airport to cordon off any parking spaces within 300 feet of terminal buildings, a loss of 1,200 spots.

        That has led to passengers being turned away on an increasingly regular basis, and the loss of an important revenue stream.

        "We're going to be adding more parking ... but this is still going to be an issue as we return to normal,” planning director Bill Martin told the Kenton County Airport Board Monday.

        Parking is the top revenue source for the airport, normally bringing in about $1.4 million monthly. An estimate on how much parking was down for September was not available, but the airport is running nearly $1.5 million in the red for the year through Sept. 30.

        A new 2,000-spot parking garage is slowly coming online, with nearly 1,000 spots to be open by the holidays, but the airport is also looking at ways of getting the orange barricades lifted from the spots nearest the terminals (limitations on oversized vehicles such as minivans or sport utility vehicles have been lifted in the garages).

        “Sept. 11 caused us to look at a lot of things and react to a lot of directives we never thought we would have to,” Mr. Martin said.

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