“Drop Off Zone” parking charges at airports

My son is over here at the moment. He flew out from Gatwick airport. Chatting over the weekend and he mentioned seeing that there were now additional charges for stopping outside an airport to drop someone and their suitcases off. Typically this is something that takes no more than a couple of minutes, but the minimum charge is apparently £5.

https://www.thisismoney.co.uk/money/holidays/article-10045265/Britons-pay-105m-year-airport-drop-zone-charges.html

yup common thing now in airports

Comes in today at Heathrow.

From the Gatwick site:

Anyone who does not wish to pay the forecourt charge will be able to drop off or pick up passengers in the airport’s long-stay car parks with two hours free parking and a free shuttle bus to the terminals. Follow the signs for ‘North Terminal long stay’.

To drop off for free, drive to North Terminal long stay. Take a ticket at the barrier, and catch the free shuttle bus to the terminal. Once you’re ready to leave, simply scan the ticket on exit for free parking for up to two hours.

And so it should be. Airports are served very well by public transport, so using private transport to be dropped off is a privilege people should be paying for.

How does it affect taxis/minicabs?

I get the idea in principle, but for Gatwick in particular, the long stay is quite a drive from the terminal in the first place and then your passenger has to take a bus to go back pretty much the way they came. It’s good to try and stop people loitering for pick-ups in the drop off area, but this seems like a sledghammer to crack a nut approach.

The particularly frustrating part of this is that when Southern/Thameslink decided to not bother running trains to stop at local stations (for whatever excuse they’ve come up with at the time), almost everything still stops at Gatwick which means a possible pick up option. The addition of the £5 charge for drop off/pick up however makes that an expensive fix for a problem many commuters can’t do anything about.

Airports are served very well by public transport,

Indeed they are, but is your (or rather everybody’s) house?

Traffic permitting, a mate could drive me to Heathrow dropoff faster than I could walk to my nearest station.

And any public transport will require either a public bus or a tube.

The above will need to be negotiated with one of the following:
wheelie suitcase
large duffle style bag
bike bag that tips over if you walk too fast or on any non billiard smooth surface

Having people drive past the airport to a parking area, so that they can come back again by shuttle-bus doesn’t seem to be very carbon-friendly.

Does public transport cover people who need to be at the airport two hours before a 6am flight?

And so it should be. Airports are served very well by public transport, so using private transport to be dropped off is a privilege people should be paying for.

I sort of agree – but I live only ~14 miles from the airport in a town of 15000 people (so not some tiny rural hamlet). To get public transport takes nearly 90 minutes, requires 2 changes, cannot be purchased as one ticket, is not that reliable, and can’t get me to the airport before 0720 AM. And this problem is not unique to my town. If I lived in the city centre it would be easy, but actually few people do live in the city – but transport links force you into the city then back out. However even in the city centre not everyone would find it easy – I think Blue Badge holders are free, but lots of people wouldn’t qualify for a blue badge normally but aren’t really able to move themselves, their luggage etc on and off public transport (the shortest route for me involves flights of stairs – I think there is a longer route with lifts if they are working).

I think the concept that its some sort of pollution tax is somewhat negated by the free parking at longstay and get a bus option – those people still cause exactly the same amount of pollution, probably require more infrastructure etc. Its just a cheaky charge – in Edinburgh’s case its crept up from 1 to 4 in a short time, not as an increased disincentive but because they’ve realised people will pay it.

How does it affect taxis/minicabs?

At Edinburgh they pay the drop off fee too – and Uber etc add it to your fare as a specific item.

And so it should be. Airports are served very well by public transport, so using private transport to be dropped off is a privilege people should be paying for.

To get to my nearest airport (Edinburgh) by public transport is a 2 mile walk then 4 hours by buses and trains. If I need to be at the airport before 11am I need to leave the night before. I can drive it in 50 minutes.

From memory, at Bournemouth there is a pay gate on the way to the airport entrance so you cannot get near the airport without paying their charge.

A lot of supposed blue badge schemes are actually just number plate checkers to see if your car is provided by the disability scheme. I have a valid blue badge but bought my own car(s) so do not qualify. Same for lots of tourist parking nowadays as it can be automated whereas checking blue badges is more difficult. Many places also charge for blue badge parking but let you park nearer the entrance which does make sense to me but I have had a couple of tickets because I didn’t notice the small print on the parking ticket machine.

And so it should be. Airports are served very well by public transport

They are on the continent. Try going west on a train from Heathrow and see how far you get.

I’d believe it was for environmental reasons if Heathrow hadn’t scrapped the free local bus services around the airport.

I think all airports charge now as they can get away with it. I always take the train from Manchester, advance ticket to Lancaster is 6 quid, sometimes 8 v 25 if you just turn up. If you book direct with operator you get a 2 hour delay window which is q generous. Only issue is clearing security, it can be 5 mins or 2 hours so you end up waiting for the cheapo train.

5 quid drop off is just for starters it will soon be 10.

Airports never miss an opportunity to gounge coin.

Those cheap Flights are loss leaders

youre gonna pay one way or another

worth checking out tho because there are often free drop off spots at the long stay car parks
if youve decided to inflict the hell of luton airport on yourself………

Just another manner to rip money out their customers pockets. They already profit by millions from rent to all who use their property like the concourse shops to the airlines. Here they have you over a barrel, you must go there to fly.

Its a bit like the poll tax.

Stansted works quite well, free 1 hour set down in mid stay and a 5 min bus ride that goes every 10 minutes or so. Luton is awful, I don’t like going there at all

Airports never miss an opportunity to gounge coin.

Pfft. If they weren’t charging for this, they’d be putting the fees on something else. What you’re experiencing is massaging headline prices and sneaking in charges elsewhere. Not a new thing.

Just another manner to rip money out their customers pockets. They already profit by millions from rent to all who use their property like the concourse shops to the airlines. Here they have you over a barrel, you must go there to fly.

Its a bit like the poll tax.

Its nothing like poll tax. There is no need to fly at all.
But it is just a trick to keep the landing fees low so Easyjet etc will keep coming without hurting total revenue. I dare say their conourse sales revenue is impacted by covid.

If the cost is enough you are even noticing £4/5 – you are probably flying too much anyway.

Doncaster will charge you £4 if you want to be dropped right in front of the terminal, but will give you 15 minutes free in the short stay, literally across the same road. Maybe if/when it gets a lot more flights they’ll change, but for now it’s pretty good. I usually cycle down though if there’s something unusual in to photograph.

https://flydsa.co.uk/car-parking/drop-off-and-pick-up/

The Luton free mid-stay drop off is grim. That ‘600m’ walk includes negotiating a huge intersection and then a walk through a fume filled tunnel. Aside from the tunnel, the rest of the walk is uncovered, so you get soaked if it’s raining.

It’s so bad, the airport used to discourage / prohibit passengers from making the journey on foot. But they’ve now stopped the bus service (‘cos of COVID) so there is no choice.

Dropoff fees are new for the more prestigious(?) airports, and a response to the drop in travel. Airports need to urgently generate cash.

Heathrow just had a demand for increased airport fees (to the airlines) knocked back by the CAA CAA decison, but the they’ll still be £35 per flight from next year.

Another issue for them is the removal of tax-free shopping, which is likely to reduce the revenue from the shops (see Dixons Travel is closing link).

So on top of the drop off charges and fees, airports will be looking elsewhere to recover the debts they have incurred during COVID.

Re airports being well served by public transport… Heathrow is a disaster. The Heathrow Express is a shocking £25 for a SINGLE on the day. It’s an OK servivce if you want to get to Paddington, but hardly the best hub for London connections and onward travel.

And this weekend, the tube was completely out of action, so the train was the only real public transport option. There’s no longer a direct London bus service and coaches are only OK if you live somewhere with a direct connection e.g. Oxford.

So considering the volume of passengers, I think Heathrow is poorly served.

Does anyone actually know if airports are raking in huge sums of cash through pure greed, or is it just a baseline assumption that however much you are being charged to use their services is too much?

You’ll just get people being dropped at the free side of the barrier wont you? At Bristol it’s quite easy to do.

There is no need to fly at all.

There may not be. But I spent 18 months taking my son to work at LHR, and collecting him after shifts. As mentioned, try travelling WEST from LHR on public transport. I live five miles from T5. Of course the staff have a free car park, but sometimes he didn’t have the car. And before you say cycle – three years on and the tunnel to Terminals 2 and 3 STILL is not open (he worked at T2 Security).

There are alternatives at LHR, if you know the airport well and don’t mind a little walk.

Nearly 200 European Airports Edge Closer to Bankruptcy

Funnily enough airports have had it rather hard the last couple of years…

You can understand why it was introduced at Gatwick. People would arrive early to collect and clog it all up and just do a circuit if moved on. Now its empty as if you stop for longer than a few mins…think it’s ten, then you get charged £1 a minute on top of the £5.

Its all well and good saying there is public transport to get there, but I wouldn’t know where to start! Its a 25-30min drive through the lanes and just doing a quick google maps search its 1hr 48mins bby public transport involving changes and walks…F that!

bridges Free Member

And so it should be. Airports are served very well by public transport, so using private transport to be dropped off is a privilege people should be paying for.

It doesn’t get more obvious than naming yourself after the place trolls live and yet you lot continue to bite.

We can’t have our cake and eat it. We want cheap air fairs…that forces airlines to cut their cost base as much as possible. They can’t do much about fuel which is about 75% of the cost base of an airline, so they have to squeeze their suppliers and airports. So the competition for airport charges are squeezed forcing airports to have to make revenue from other sources like car parking, shopping etc. The money always finds you…you either pay it in the flight ticket charge or you pay it elsewhere. Lets not forget the cost of security for airports…to create a bay where people can be dropped off without having every car searched for bombs or something means the layout of the approach has to be safe in case some crazy person want to use their car as a weapon or set off a bomb, and the security staff…all this costs alot of money and this has to be recouped somehow.

I agree with, and have sympathy with the argument that airports are well served by public transport. Your home may not be but there are other options available to people. It might not suit people 24/7, so if you land at 3am you might struggle with public transport, but generally there are ways you can avoid expensive car park and access charges. Some train stations you can now check in at the train station and get whisked to the airport and not have to faff around with your suitcase, there are park and ride options so can pick people up at a park and ride location rather than the airport.

Also the impact to the environment has to be considered. Aircraft themselves only contribute to around 2 – 3% of CO2 emissions. But the way people get to and from airports is far far more polluting and carbon emitting than the aircraft themselves as well as the power consumptions of airports themselves. There is a significant amount of emission reduction that can be had by taking a different route to and from the airport rather than every individual driving or being driven. Expect to see more innovative schemes pop up over the coming years in this area.

These are the types of considerations we’re going to have to consider and it will mean some things are slightly less convenient than they have been in the past..it will be a temporary thing because eventually we’ll be generating our power cleanly and going to and from the airport via clean transportation and things will return to current day norms (we’re not going to give up our cars/individual transportation – we value convenience too much), but in the transition where we do need to think about our impact then sacrificing a bit of convenience is a small price to pay.

It doesn’t get more obvious than naming yourself after the place trolls live and yet you lot continue to bite.

It’s my surname. Feel a bit stupid now?

By stating that airports are well served by public transport, I wasn’t saying you can’t actually drive there. And I’m happy to pay the extra fiver for the convenience of being able to be dropped off with oversized baggage etc. Really don’t see what the issue is to be honest.

The Luton free mid-stay drop off is grim

FTFY.

Doncaster will charge you £4

There’s an airport in Doncaster? Who knew??

It’s my surname. Feel a bit stupid now?

Nominative determinism in action.

Airports are served very well by public transport,

Not flown from East Midlands? Or tried to get there from a Derbyshire village?

I can’t see any issue with this – the petrol stations around Gatwick that have a serious problem with people just dropping off passengers have quite hefty fines iirc. Their auto cameras recognise people opening boots for luggage and combined with number plate recognition, issue fines left right and centre.

There was a case of someone got their wallet from the boot of their car to pay for petrol and got a charge through the post .

I used to do airport taxi work (private hire) and Luton was the worst for the drop off zone though. It was a drop off only area (no collections) and about £8 for 5min and then £5 a minute after – used to see some very aggressive and angry people who were trying to collect passengers on late flights, only to find out they have a 3 or £400 bill for parking when trying to leave.

£8 for 5min

Was cash only to start with too. Absolute hell on a Sunday night.

My son is over here at the moment. He flew out from Gatwick airport. Chatting over the weekend and he mentioned seeing that there were now additional charges for stopping outside an airport to drop someone and their suitcases off. Typically this is something that takes no more than a couple of minutes, but the minimum charge is apparently £5.

Is this the first time you’ve been to an airport since 2007?

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Glasgow_Airport_attack#Aftermath

Is this the first time you’ve been to an airport since 2007?

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Glasgow_Airport_attack#Aftermath

What you talk’in about Willis?

There’s an airport in Doncaster? Who knew??

Formerly known as RAF Finningley. It’s not actually IN Doncaster. 🙄

Anyway, Leeds Bradford have been charging for years, I’ve never paid. It’s amazing how quickly one can unload 2 suitcases on double yellows.

Luton is well served by National Express where the coach puts you out at the terminal at a reasonable cost. (If one really must use Luton). Stansted, Heathrow and Gatwick also seem to have a good service that is 24 hour.

I’m with Bridges on this if one doesn’t use public transport expect to pay to store/use your property on others land.

Well served? There’s one bus a day from where I live, it goes at 02:35 and gets there at 07:35. Even then I know we are better served by Nat Exp than most because Doncaster is on the A1/M18.

Just another manner to rip money out their customers pockets. They already profit by millions from rent to all who use their property like the concourse shops to the airlines. Here they have you over a barrel, you must go there to fly.

Its a bit like the poll tax.

No idea how it’s like the poll tax?

Its worth noting that Luton Airport is owned by the council. So the money made directly pays for local services. In these times of a huge squeeze on council funding apparently bit makes a big difference

However it was chaos last night

So the money made

Or in Cardiff Wales’ case, the vast amount of money lost gets soaked up by the Welsh government.

“…the airport made a pre-tax loss for each period since the Welsh Government acquisition [2013].

PS there is free drop off at Cardiff Wales, so everyone in Wales is paying for my free trip to collect and deposit my brother and his family. Just nuts.