Gatwick Airport has announced that vehicles dropping off passengers at its North Terminal forecourt will be charged a minimum £5 fee from 8 March 2021. A similar fee will be adopted at the south terminal, which is currently closed due to the pandemic, at a later date.
The charge will be £5 for 10 minutes, and £1 for each additional minute up to 20 minutes. The maximum charge will be £25 and the maximum length of stay will be 30 minutes. The airport will use automatic number plate recognition cameras to enforce the charge.
The airport said the fee would “help to reduce traffic congestion and emissions for the surrounding area as well as being a deterrent for a car-led recovery once more regular travel resumes post the Covid-19 national lockdown”. It also said the revenue from the drop-off charge would help protect jobs at the airport.
Anyone who does not wish to pay the charge will be able to drop off or pick up passengers in the airport’s long-stay car parks where there will be two hours’ free parking and a free shuttle bus to the terminal.
The airport said that ‘Kiss and Fly’ journeys – which involve two return trips to the airport – represented around 15 per cent of all airport journeys in 2019.
Jonathan Pollard, Gatwick’s chief commercial officer, said: “It is no secret that the airport is going through the most difficult period in its history and we have little choice but to explore new revenue streams that will help us recover from the Covid-19 crisis and continue as an important provider of economic prosperity and jobs across the region.”
Blue badge holders will be able to access the forecourt free of charge by registering their details up to three months in advance before arriving at the airport.
Local residents who use the airport’s railway station can buy an annual pass at a cost of £50 to be able to drop off and pick up there.