Why do UK airports charge to drop off?

These are initial fees charged for dropping off someone as close to a terminal as possible. The biggest hikes in so-called kiss and fly charges are at Southampton and Belfast International, the RAC found. Airports argue the higher fees are to deter drivers from lingering around and help to keep flight costs down.



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But the good news is that in most cases there's no need to pay anything when saying goodbye to family and friends, as almost all airports have a free area for drop-offs – as long as you're willing to take a short walk or shuttle ride to the terminal.

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The drop-off fee was first suggested in 2020, as part of plans to reduce airport traffic. Heathrow said the charge was introduced in October 2021 because the airport was hit hard by the pandemic. It added the charge would help protect jobs and go towards sustainable transport schemes at the airport.

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You must register the taxi details in advance to be exempt from the drop-off charge. If the vehicle is registered to an Autopay account, please ensure this is disabled when utilising a Blue Badge drop-off exemption, in order to avoid charges being debited automatically.

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If you're dropping off a passenger at Gatwick, you will have to pay this fee at both South and North terminals. The North terminal is at Sofitel and has multi-storey car parking. The South terminal is situated at the lower level.

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London Gatwick operates a vehicle monitoring and enforcement operation. Any vehicle seen contravening the Red Route restrictions will face an enforcement charge of £100 (reduced to £60 if paid within 14 days).

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The airport is owned and operated by Gatwick Airport Limited, a wholly-owned subsidiary of Ivy Holdco Limited, owned by Global Infrastructure Partners (GIP), among others.

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