Airport drop-off price rises to hit holidaymakers

Holidaymakers should prepare for hefty airport drop-off prices as new research shows that nine in 10 of the UK’s most popular airports have raised their charges within the last year.

The RAC’s study shows that Britain’s busiest airport, London Heathrow, has seen its drop-off charge increase by £1 in the last year to £6; there is no time limit, but those who forget to pay by midnight the next day face an £80 fine, reduced to £40 if paid within 14 days.

The second-busiest and among the most expensive to drop-off is London Gatwick which has also increased its charge by £1 year-on-year, meaning drivers face a £7 fee in 2025. London Stansted charges the same amount for use of its Express Set Down area, although this saw no fee increase in the past year.

In fact, as many as 11 of the UK’s 20 biggest airports raised their drop-off prices in the previous 12 months, with the likes of Edinburgh, Birmingham and Liverpool also having raised prices by £1, or the equivalent of 20 per cent.

Big charges at Manchester Airport

Perhaps the most heinous charge in the UK is at Manchester Airport which charges £5 to use its Drop Off areas. This might sound like a bargain compared to other airports and it doesn’t represent an increase over 2024, but Manchester Airport only allows drivers to stay for five minutes at a time. This means that using the drop-off area costs as much as £1 per minute. 

If you plan to stay longer, Manchester will charge £6.40 for 10 minutes or an eye-watering £25 for half an hour. Those picking up passengers rather than dropping them off will have to fork out anything between £6.40 and £8.30, depending on which terminal they’re using.

The RAC’s head of policy, Simon Williams, described how “the sky really seem[s] to be the limit when it comes to the amount drivers get charged for making the briefest of stops to let friends or loved ones out to catch a flight. The annual ritual of many airports hiking the cost of drop-offs is unfortunately continuing unabated.”

Williams admitted “airports understandably need to manage the often-limited on-site space they have”, however, he pointed out that those using these services often are helping loved ones with mobility issues and are more likely to get penalised for unintentionally overstaying the time limit.

Airport drop-off charges: a UK trend

The majority of airports now utilise ANPR (automated Numberplate Recognition) technology, rather than traditional toll booths, in order to collect fees for pick-up and drop-off parking. This, Williams says, means “anyone who doesn’t notice the change or simply forgets to pay will inevitably be stung with a very unwelcome parking charge notice.”

It’s also important to note that out of Europe’s busiest airports, the vast majority don’t enforce any drop-off charges at all; drivers can drop off passengers at Paris, Madrid, Frankfurt, Barcelona, and Rome airports all without paying a fee.

Hefty drop-off and pick-up fees are just one of the many obscene costs facing drivers at airports. There are several websites you can use – many of which we’ve tested and compared – to save some cash on short and long-stay airport parking, although parking close to the terminal can still cost well over £100 for a single night at the likes of Heathrow or Gatwick.

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