Holiday costs for Britons just keep on taking off and now new research has found that drivers dropping off friends and family at UK airports face the highest charges on record this summer with more than half putting up their fees since last year, new RAC analysis shows. Of the 11 airports that have increased their prices since last year, Belfast City’s rise is the steepest with charges going up by a third (now £4 for 10 minutes, up from £3 last year), followed by Newcastle (now £5 for 10 minutes, up from £4 last year). London Heathrow, Edinburgh, Birmingham and Liverpool all upped their drop-off fees by £1, or 20%, and now charge £6 for between 10 and 20 minutes, up from £5 last year.
The remaining five airports that put their prices up are London Gatwick, Bristol, Leeds Bradford and Southampton, which now all join Stansted in charging the top rate of £7 for dropping off, and Glasgow which increased its fee by 50p to £6 for 15 minutes. But on a cost-per-minute basis, the most expensive airports are London Luton and Manchester, where drivers have to fork out £5 to stop for just five minutes. Remarkably, these £1-per-minute drop-off rates mean the cost of a return flight from Manchester to Turkey in August is cheaper on a per-minute basis.
With Cardiff Airport introducing drop-off fees this year for the first time (£3 for 10 minutes, the same rate as at Belfast International airport), this leaves London City as the only top 20 UK airport that still offers drivers a free drop-off close to the terminal – although anyone doing so needs to be careful not to wait in their vehicles or leave them unattended, or face a penalty.
The demise of free drop-offs at UK airports is in sharp contrast to other major airports elsewhere in Europe. RAC analysis of the top 10 in the EU by passenger numbers found eight – including Paris Charles de Gaulle, Madrid, Barcelona, Palma, Frankfurt and Rome – still do, making the increase in fees on this side of the Channel all the more depressing for drivers.
RAC senior policy officer Rod Dennis said: “The sky really does seem to be the limit when it comes to the amount drivers get charged for making the briefest of stops to let friends or loved ones out to catch a flight. The seemingly annual ritual of many airports hiking the cost of drop-offs is unfortunately continuing unabated.
“Airports understandably need to manage the often-limited on-site space they have. We also know some still offer short stay free parking, but the problem is it’s often well away from the terminal. If a driver wants to help a passenger with mobility issues or a lot of bags get to the terminal, they’ll often end up overstaying the ‘free’ period offered and getting charged.
“Drivers also need to be aware of the growing trend of airports dispensing with on-site payment in favour of introducing barrierless drop-offs that require payment online or by phone later. This is another source of frustration for people who in many cases are just trying to help a family member or friend get to the airport. Anyone who doesn’t notice the change or simply forgets to pay will inevitably be stung with a very unwelcome parking charge notice.
“The main reason drivers drop off at airports, according to our research, is to help people with bulky and often heavy luggage. This is understandable when the alternative to the car is often either a conventional bus, which can be impractical with lots of cases, or a costly taxi – with fares for the latter subject to the same drop-off fees that drivers need to pay.
“It’s also revealing that the tendency to charge drivers to drop close to terminals isn’t something that’s repeated right across Europe, with major airports like Paris Charles de Gaulle, Barcelona and Rome, as well as those popular with holidaymakers such as Palma, Nice and Marseilles, all still offering free ‘kiss and fly’ drop-off zones.”