New customer parking enhancements at Hilton Head Island Airport

New automated parking kiosks have been added at the Hilton Head Island Airport.

The system is designed to make paying for parking easier and faster and will also allow travelers to use their smartphones to pay.

Beaufort County, in conjunction with Republic Parking System, just completed installation of the kiosks, which will allow travelers to prepay for their parking inside the terminal.

The airport previously used a traditional gate ticketing system. The new system is based around the license tag of users, which is entered at the kiosk, eliminating the need to present a ticket for payment, the release said.

The county also announced that the first two hours of parking in the short-term lot are now free.

The Hilton Head Island Airport, whose airport identifier code is "HXD," has a full-service terminal building centrally located mid-island. The airport is serviced by U.S. Airways Express, which offers flights to and from Charlotte, North Carolina and Washington, D.C.

This story was originally published March 17, 2015 at 1:39 AM.