Gatwick Airport has introduced it’ll improve its drop-off cost to £10, that means stopping within the zone will price £1 per minute.
Motorists taking a cherished one to the airport to say goodbye this vacation season face rising charges to enter the drop-off zone, often known as kiss-and-fly charges.
Heathrow Airport introduced final week it’ll hike up the drop-off cost to £7 within the new 12 months and restrict the utmost keep to 10 minutes, which drivers criticised as ‘unjustifiable.’
Nonetheless, Gatwick will quickly take the prize for the most costly drop-off stint after the UK’s second busiest airport stated it’ll improve the charge from £7 to £10 from January 6 – a 43% rise.
A spokeswoman for Gatwick stated the choice to extend the cost was not taken calmly, however the airport is dealing with growing prices like a better enterprise fee.
She stated: ‘The rise within the drop-off cost will help wider efforts to encourage higher use of public transport, serving to restrict the variety of vehicles and scale back congestion on the entrance to our terminals, alongside funding various sustainable transport initiatives.’
The upcoming £3 improve comes simply months after Gatwick elevated the charge in Might, which personal taxi campaigners already labelled a ‘money cow on the general public.’
Taxi drivers advised Metro that larger drop-off charges are all the time handed onto the shopper, whereas stricter most keep limits will make many drivers skip airport jobs.
Rod Dennis from the motoring group RAC stated that greater than 40% improve is the most important ever, and drivers ought to get used to ‘coughing up more and more exorbitant sums’ to drop off family members.
He stated that drop-off charges at European airports are ‘nearly unparalleled.’ A fast drop-off of below 10 minutes is free at airports like Dublin and Paris Charles de Gaulle.
How a lot does drop-off price at different airports?
Analysis has ranked the UK’s costliest and most cost-effective airport kiss-and-fly charges.
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Earlier than Gatwick introduced the January hike, Southend Airport in Essex took the highest spot for the very best charges.
Drivers should dish out £7 for a 5-minute keep within the drop-off zone, based on analysis by Choose Automobile Leasing.
The airport, with flights by airways like easyJet, Aer Lingus and TUI, fees £15 for goodbyes lasting longer than 5 minutes. It does supply a mid-stay possibility, with stays as much as half-hour costing £8.
Elsewhere, Gatwick Airport, Leeds Bradford and Bristol Airports already cost £7 for 10 minutes close to the terminals.
Gatwick, the UK’s second busiest airport, introduced the charge improve within the spring as a part of its growth plan, which personal rent taxi campaigners labelled a ‘money cow on the general public.’
Stansted and Southampton Airports cost £7 for a drop-off, however motorists can keep as much as 20 minutes.
However some airports are bucking the pattern of rising charges and stricter limits.
Drop-off fees at London airports
Gatwick Airport – The charge elevated to £7 in Might. The cost have to be paid by midnight the day after parking. Late fee will incur a Parking Cost Discover (PCN). The cost can be £10 from January 6.
Heathrow Airport – Its charge elevated to £6 in January this 12 months, with one other £1 improve within the pipeline from January 1, 2026. The drop-off charge could be paid after a go to or pay as you go.
Stansted Airport – Drop-off prices £7 for as much as quarter-hour, with something over quarter-hour costing £25.
London Luton – Decide up and drop-off at Luton prices £7 for as much as 10 minutes. Every additional minute prices £1, with a most keep of 20 minutes. The cost could be paid on-line solely. An extended keep than 20 minutes within the categorical zone will incur a penalty cost.
Luton additionally has a mid-stay automobile park round a 10-minute stroll away, which is free as much as quarter-hour.
Metropolis of London – Drop-off on the terminal is free, however drivers aren’t allowed to attend. Blue Badge holders can park up without spending a dime for half-hour.
The pick-up cost is £6.90 for as much as 20 minutes, growing to £14.90 for as much as half-hour.
A 24-hour go to prices £74.90.
London Metropolis Airport in Newham provides a free drop-off, whereas at Exeter Worldwide Airport the drop-off is free for half-hour.
Birmingham Worldwide and Newquay Cornwall Airports have a free drop-off for the primary 10 minutes, whereas Inverness Airport in Scotland provides it without spending a dime for quarter-hour. If drivers keep longer, charges will apply at most of them.
In some circumstances, like at Heathrow ranging from January 1, any keep longer than 10 minutes within the drop-off zone will end in a Penalty Cost Discover (PCN).
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