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Flying from Heathrow sometime soon? You’re going to want to be aware of changes to the major flight hub’s drop-off policy. In short, you’ll only be able to wait for a certain amount of time, and will have to fork out a bit more money.
In the New Year, the UK’s busiest airport will introduce a strict time limit on drop-offs for the first time ever. Bosses at the airport said this would be to ease congestion in the zones outside the terminals. They added that free drop-offs using the Park and Ride were still available to all terminals, should you not want to pay the fee.
Here’s everything you need to know about the changes.
When is Heathrow changing its drop-off rules?
The new rules come into force on January 1 2026.
How much is Heathrow increasing the drop-off fee by?
The fee to drop off a passenger at one of the Heathrow terminals in a car will increase by only £1, from £6 to £7.
How long will drivers have to drop-off passengers?
People dropping off will only be allowed to wait for 10 minutes before they will be issued a Parking Charge Notice (PCN). This should still give you plenty of time – the Heathrow spokesperson said that 95 percent of drop-offs are currently under 10 minutes.
How to pay the drop-off charge
Visitors to the drop-off zones can pre-pay online or by phone. Alternatively, if drivers are paying after using the drop-off areas they must do it before midnight the following day otherwise they could be charged an £80 fine.
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