Ginger D. Richardson

The Arizona Republic

Jul. 16, 2005 12:00 AM

PHOENIX - Passengers who find airlines` in-flight movies less than entertaining won`t have to thumb through magazines or paperback novels just to pass the time on their next flight. Now they can rent DVDs and portable DVD players, at a new store at Sky Harbor International Airport.

InMotion Entertainment is one of 40 new shops and restaurants coming online as part of a $25 million renovation of Terminal 4`s retail areas. The store opened 10 days ago.

The work, which is being done in three phases, is scheduled to be done in early 2007, said Julie Rodriguez, an airport spokeswoman. advertisement

InMotion, which operates outlets at 38 airports nationwide, including Las Vegas, Denver, Houston and Portland, Ore., rents movies for five days at $5 each, or offers an unlimited rental package for $9.99 a month. The store also allows its customers to rent portable DVD players for $12 a day.

``If you are stuck on a plane for any length of time, whatever you can do to make the time go by faster is a good thing,`` said Barney Freedman, co-founder of the company.

Sky Harbor officials said travelers have repeatedly expressed a need for more entertainment options.

``When the doors opened on the first day, people were standing in line outside,`` Rodriguez said.

But just how do people return them?

Passengers can return them to any of the company`s airport stores or by FedEx. The store is in the lobby area, rather than on a concourse, which means it is accessible by all passengers before they go through security