Travelling is expensive. Even if you manage to bag cheap flights, by the time you’ve booked baggage, transfers, and fed yourself at the airport, flying anywhere sets you back. Today, unfortunately, we bring you bad news – it’s about to get worse.
According to insurance providers RAC, seven of the UK’s top 20 airports have increased drop-off fees by at least £1 in the past year. That may not sound like a lot, but it adds up. There are only three airports left where you can drop someone off free of charge – shoutout to London City, Inverness and Cardiff.
Generally, you’re looking at about a fiver per drop off, although rates vary. Stansted remains the country’s most expensive to be dropped off at, costing £7 for a 15 minute stay, but Manchester provides the worst value for your money, at £5 for a five minute stay. Knowing this, it’s no surprise that RAC found that 81 percent of people describe these charges as a ‘rip-off’.
Despite being the worst value, neither Stansted nor Manchester actually increased their prices this year. However London Gatwick, Bristol, Edinburgh, and Birmingham all got £1 more expensive, meanwhile Leeds Bradford, Glasgow, and Aberdeen charge 50p more than they did this time last year.
Here’s the exact details on the airports which have increased charges, and how much you’ll pay now.
Full list of airports increasing drop-off fees and how much they charge
- Leeds Bradford: £6.50 for 10 minutes
- London Gatwick: £6 for 10 minutes
- Bristol: £6 for 10 minutes
- Glasgow: £5.50 for 15 minutes
- Aberdeen: £5.50 for 15 minutes
- Edinburgh: £5 for 10 minutes
- Birmingham: £5 for 15 minutes
Speaking on the ever-increasing fares, RAC senior policy officer Rod Dennis said: ‘It’s depressing… To have to pay £5, £6 or even £7 for the briefest of stops to simply open the boot and take some luggage out for a friend or loved one is bordering on the ridiculous.’
Airports often say that these charges are meant to act as a deterrent and encourage people to use public transport, but for somewhere like Bristol or Glasgow, both of which are only accessible by an inconvenient bus route, Dennis finds this argument unconvincing.
‘Increased charges at airports that have relatively poor public transport access – for instance, no direct rail or tram link – also seems pretty unreasonable... if the alternatives are non-existent, expensive, or unreliable then what choice do people really have?’
According to Dennis, most of these terminals have committed to freezing rates for the next year, so you won’t be getting any more ripped off before 2025. Silver linings, eh?
Eyes on the skies
There’s always more to say about British aviation. For instance, did you see that that easyJet is launching three new low-cost holiday routes from this major UK airport? Or that the UK’s worst airline for delays right now has been revealed? We’ve also kept you updated you on why the 100ml rule won’t be scrapped this year.
Did you see that the UK is set to get its coldest summer in 24 years?
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