UK Airport Drop-Off Fees Rise by a Third on Average

Drop-off fees at the UK's major airports have risen by a third on average since last summer, new analysis has found.

The RAC motoring group looked at the cost of pulling up to the closest point to terminals at the 20 busiest airports, 16 of which had put up their prices since last year.

London airport Gatwick topped the list by charging a "farewell fee" of £10 for 10 minutes, after lifting it by £3 from last year. Stansted also charges £10 but drivers are allowed 15 minutes at its "express set down" outside departures.

Airports UK, the trade body, said that free drop-offs were available and fees were part of airports' business models and climate change objectives.

The RAC said that the price of dropping people off in "kiss-and-fly" areas rose by an average of £1.70 to £7 compared to this time last year.

London City Airport, which only started making people pay this year, is the most expensive on a per-minute basis. Its £8 charge for five minutes works out at £1.60 per minute.

There have been increases in Northern Ireland too. At Belfast International Airport, it is now £5 for 10 minutes in the drop-off zone, up £2 on last year.

In contrast, none of the top 10 airports in the EU charge for drop-offs, according to RAC research.

The RAC acknowledged UK airports generally offered other options for setting people down at locations further from the terminal, sometimes with free shuttle buses.

But the motoring organisation's senior policy officer, Rod Dennis, said "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".

He said drivers needed to be especially careful of barrierless "park now, pay later" drop-off zones, as they could face a parking charge notice if they failed to pay online or by phone within a certain period of time.

The Aviation Environment Federation (AEF) campaign group defended the drop-off fees.

It said there needs to be an incentive for people to use other forms of transport to reduce congestion and air pollution around airports, which it said can cause a range of childhood illnesses such as asthma.

Celeste Hicks, policy manager at 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."