UK airport drop-off charges have risen by a third on average since last summer, with passengers at the 20 busiest airports now paying more to stop closest to terminal doors. The RAC said 16 of those airports increased prices over the past year, while Rod Dennis warned drivers to watch out for barrierless "park now, pay later" zones.
Gatwick charges £10 for 10 minutes at its drop-off point. Stansted charges £10 for 15 minutes at its express set down outside departures, and London City Airport now charges £8 for five minutes, which works out at £1.60 per minute.
RAC airport price check
The RAC looked at the cost of pulling up to the closest point to terminals at the 20 busiest airports. Its research put the average cost of dropping people off in kiss-and-fly areas at £7, up by £1.70 since this time last year.
Birmingham charges £7.00 for 15 minutes, or 47p per minute. That leaves London City Airport and Birmingham on very different price levels for the same kind of brief stop, even though both charge for terminal drop-offs.
Rod Dennis on farewells
Dennis, the RAC senior policy officer, said drivers needed to be especially careful of barrierless "park now, pay later" drop-off zones. He added that "having a captive audience should be no excuse for these 'farewell fees' – especially when they're completely at odds with how major airports around the world operate".
Airports UK said free drop-offs were available and that fees formed part of airports' business models and climate change objectives. The Aviation Environment Federation took the opposite line, saying charges should help push people towards other forms of transport to cut congestion and air pollution around airports.
Gatwick and Stansted fees
RAC research also found that none of the top 10 airports in the EU charge for drop-offs. Celeste Hicks of the AEF said: "Any parking charges or drop off charges could be reinvested by laying on local bus and rail services instead of lining the pockets of airport shareholders."
Heidi Alexander approved Gatwick's plans for a second runway with a requirement that 54% of passengers use public transport, and the latest drop-off fees show how much airports are already relying on short-stay terminal charging before any wider change in policy. For passengers, the practical choice is narrower than it looks: pay at the terminal, or use a free alternative further away if the airport offers one.
