Airport Drop Off Charges

UK Airports Charge for Passenger Drop Offs

UK airports have increasingly started charging for passenger drop offs in an effort to help them recover from loss of revenues due to the Covid pandemic which has caused a dramatic reduction in flights and associated services.

From Monday 8th March, Gatwick Airport will start charging £5 for vehicles dropping off passengers at the North Terminal from where flights are currently operating. The charge will also apply at the South terminal from 12th April.

The move was met with 4600 comments on Facebook, mostly strongly against the decision to start charging from drop offs.

Click here for more information about drop off charges at Gatwick.

Jonathan Pollard, Chief Commercial Officer, Gatwick Airport, said:“We recognise that a drop off charge is never going to be popular with some people, however given that we have just announced losses of £465 million and a reduction of more than 40% of our workforce in 2020, we have little choice but to explore new revenue streams to help us protect the remaining jobs.

£5 covers vehicles for 10 mins, with an additional £1 for every minute up to a maximum of 20 minutes or and above the first 10 minutes. That means you can stay for a maximum of 30 minutes and be charged £25.

Payment must be made by midnight on the day after the drop off. Failure to pay will be enforced with a Penalty Charge Notice (PCN) of £100, reduced to £60 if paid within 14 days.

Alternatively, motorists can park in the short term car park for £5 for 30 minutes or for free in the long-stay car parks for up to 2 hours with transfers to the terminals by free shuttle bus.