Gatwick Airport passengers face 'sky-high' drop-off fees, RAC investigation reveals

An RAC investigation found 16 of the 22 airports analysed have introduced or raised charges for dropping off passengers in the past three years.

The motoring services company claimed drivers will be ‘stunned’ by some of the ‘sky-high’ fees.

Gatwick placed third in a list of most expensive airports for drop-offs, charging £5 for ten minutes. The airport, the second busiest in the country, introduced the fees last year.

Stansted topped the table for the most expensive so-called ‘kiss-and-fly’ charges, which are typically levied for dropping off someone as close to the terminal as possible.

The Essex airport’s initial fee is £7 for up to 15 minutes, an increase from £4 for ten minutes in 2019, before the pandemic.

Nicholas Lyes, the RAC’s head of roads policy, said limited public transport options for some airports and concerns about train strikes mean many passengers are asking a friend or relative to give them a lift.

He said: “Anyone dropping a loved one off at the terminal this summer will be stunned by some of these sky-high kiss-and-drop charges.

“And for those using the UK’s two busiest airports, the luxury of free drop-offs outside the terminal building has been replaced by some pretty high fees.

“Minute for minute and pound for pound, some of these charges could almost be as high as the airfare itself.”

Mr Lyes said it appeared many airports had increased fees to ‘partially make up for two years of lost revenue’ during the pandemic.

He advised drivers to research charges before heading to airports, and warned them to be aware that many sites use cameras to enforce bans on stopping in certain areas.

“Trying to drop passengers off without paying could result in a hefty charge,” he added.

Jonathan Pollard, chief commercial officer at Gatwick Airport, said: “We are considering how to rebuild better and this charge has a role to play, encouraging more sustainable journeys to the airport using our strong public transport connections.

“Our investment in the new £150 million airport train station is also progressing well and will benefit anyone travelling to the airport by train and a proportion of the revenue raised through the forecourt charge will also support other new sustainable transport initiatives.”

A spokesperson for the industry body the Airport Operators Association said airports provided clear information about parking and drop-off charges to ensure travellers were ‘well-informed on the range of options to suit their needs’.

They added: “Airports that operate drop-off charges directly outside the terminal do so for a number of different reasons, including to manage congestion in capacity-restricted areas and to limit the environmental and air quality impacts of kiss-and-fly journeys.”