Up to £5 to drop someone at the airport
01.01.09
Drivers are increasingly being charged for dropping off friends and relatives at UK airports, the Daily Mail reports. Set-down lanes outside terminals are rapidly being replaced with designated parking areas, where drivers are forced to pay to drop off passengers, according to research by the newspaper.
Airports have justified the withdrawal of drop-off lanes as a necessary precaution against terror attack. But new charges mean that stopping for as little as 15 minutes can cost £5 because few UK airports offer more than 10 minutes of free parking. Birmingham Airport provides no free time at all. Instead, its 'rapid drop-off' costs £1 for the first 20 minutes and £3 for every 15 minutes thereafter.
Hugh Bladon, of the Association of British Drivers, described the situation at Birmingham Airport as absurd. He told the newspaper: 'It's over the top and sounds like they're taking advantage of the situation with the motorist an easy target to make a bit more money.'
At Liverpool, which cut the spaces in its drop off car park from 450 to 100 recently, offers the first 10 minutes free, but each additional 10 minutes costs £2. Newcastle airport offers up to 5 minutes free, then charges £1 for stays of up to 20 minutes, £1.50 for stays of 20 to 25 minutes and £2 for stays of 25 to 30 minutes.
However at Heathrow, Gatwick, Stansted and Manchester, drivers can still drop off passengers near the terminal for free. Even Glasgow Airport - which suffered the terror attack blamed by many airports for the new arrangements - has created a covered pick-up and drop-off zone opposite the main terminal with the first ten minutes free.
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