How Drivers Now Pay £7 to Drop Passengers at Airports as Government Announces Review

• The government has announced a review of airport drop-off charges after 16 of the 20 busiest airports raised their fees in a year, lifting the average by a third to £7.
• Gatwick and Stansted now charge £10 for a terminal drop-off, and London City has ended the last free drop-off among the 20 busiest airports.
• The RAC says four in five drivers call the fees a rip-off, while airport operators defend them as a way to cut congestion and encourage greener travel.

The Farewell Fee That Keeps Growing

What the Review Is Reacting To

Pull up at the terminal, let the passengers out, drive away. For a growing number of drivers that minute now comes with a bill. The government has announced a review of airport drop-off charges, a move that follows a year of steep rises across the busiest airports in the country.

The RAC, which reports the figures, says 16 of the 20 busiest airports raised their drop-off charges between summer 2025 and summer 2026. The average fee climbed by a third, an increase of £1.70, to £7. Only four airports left their prices alone: Liverpool John Lennon, East Midlands, Belfast City and Southampton.

London City was the most striking change. It introduced a charge for the first time, which means every one of the 20 busiest airports now charges for terminal drop-offs. Before the pandemic, six of them still offered free drop-off.

The detail of the review is thin. The RAC’s reports do not say which department or minister is leading it, what it will cover or when it will report. Those answers will decide whether this becomes a rule change with teeth or a report that sits on a shelf.

Where Drivers Pay Most

Gatwick and Stansted are the most expensive at £10 for a drop-off. Edinburgh and Bristol charge £8.50. Leeds Bradford, London City and Bournemouth charge £8. The average of £7 hides a wide spread, and a family dropping relatives off at a south-east hub pays a good deal more than the average.

The price per minute tells a sharper story. London City charges £1.60 a minute, the highest of any of the 20, followed by Manchester at £1.10 and Gatwick at £1. A driver who hits traffic at the barrier or helps with heavy cases can see the minutes, and the pounds, add up quickly.

For a household making a handful of airport runs a year, the extra cost looks small. For the taxi driver, the carer and the parent who ferries students to terminals every few weeks, it is a recurring charge on top of fuel. At £7 a visit, ten drop-offs cost £70 a year before any fuel is bought.

Who Pays and Why the Gap With Europe Draws Attention

The comparison with the continent is the line the RAC leans on hardest. If none of the 10 busiest airports in the European Union charge for a passenger drop-off, the argument goes, then the practice is a choice and not a fact of life. The RAC’s case is that a free, time-limited drop-off zone is a normal part of an airport, in the same way a taxi rank is.

The airport side argues from cost. Running a kerbside zone takes land, staff and enforcement, and operators say a charge keeps vehicles moving and pushes more passengers onto trains, coaches and buses. Those goals are real, and the review will have to test whether a fee of £7 or £10 achieves them or simply raises revenue. Drivers who have watched the average rise by a third in twelve months can judge that for themselves.

One fact complicates the debate. Before the pandemic, six of the 20 busiest airports still allowed free drop-off. That is now zero. A policy that moves from six to none in a few years looks less like a gradual response to congestion and more like a revenue line that airports have tested and found drivers will pay.

There is also a fairness point that sits close to the heart of the RAC’s survey. Four in five drivers think the fee is a rip-off, yet only one in ten says they understand why it exists. A charge that most people neither understand nor accept is a charge that tends to attract regulators sooner or later.

What the RAC and the Airports Say

The RAC has campaigned on the issue for years. Rod Dennis, its senior policy officer, said the review will be welcome news for drivers and described the charges as a source of anger. In his words, “airport drop-off charges are a growing source of anger and frustration”. He added that “Four-in-five drivers we’ve surveyed believe they are a ‘rip-off'”, and the RAC says only one in ten drivers understand why airports charge them.

Dennis also made an international comparison. The RAC says none of the 10 busiest airports in the European Union charge drivers for passenger drop-offs, and major hubs in Atlanta, Dubai, Shanghai and Istanbul do not either. In the RAC’s phrasing, the fees are at direct odds with most other major airports overseas.

The airports’ answer came from Karen Dee, chief executive of the trade body for airport operators, speaking to BBC News. She argued that airports abroad are typically publicly owned and receive state subsidies and tax exemptions, while airports here are generally privately owned and face the full range of commercial taxation. Supporters of the charges add that they encourage travellers to switch to public transport and ease congestion around terminals.

What the Government Said Earlier This Year

The announcement marks a change of tone. In a written parliamentary answer on 16 March 2026, Transport minister Keir Mather said drop-off charges are commercial decisions for airports to set and justify to their customers, and that charge levels are already published on airports’ websites. He added that the Department for Transport gathers information on airports’ surface access strategies through regular talks with operators, with drop-off charges part of those wider discussions.

That answer came in reply to Conservative MP Jerome Mayhew, who had asked on 10 March whether the Department planned to collect data from airports on the level of kerbside drop-off charges passengers pay. Seven months later, a review is on the table.

Public pressure has built in parallel. A parliamentary petition titled “Launch a review into airport terminal drop-off charges” opened on 17 March 2026 and had gathered 7,654 signatures at the time of checking, short of the 10,000 that triggers an official government response. The petition closed to new signatures on 17 September 2026.

What Drivers Can Do Now

Nothing in the law has changed, so the fee still applies at the barrier. Airports publish their drop-off charges on their own websites, and the RAC’s figures show how much the price varies. A quick check before a trip can save the surprise.

Most airports run a free or cheaper alternative for those prepared to walk. Long-stay or mid-stay car parks with a shuttle bus often sit a mile or so from the terminal, and some stations connect to airports by rail. Planning the handover at a nearby station or a free pick-up point can remove the fee altogether. Check the airport website for the exact rules, as penalties for overstaying the allowed minutes differ from one site to the next.

If the review leads to action, the likeliest outcomes are a cap on fees, a requirement to keep a free drop-off zone, or tighter transparency rules on signage and pricing. None of those is promised yet. Drivers who want a say can watch the petition pages and consultation notices when the Department for Transport publishes terms of reference.

The RAC sums up the case in one question to the government and the airports about why convenient, free drop-off zones work at so many international airports but not at home. The review is the first sign that someone in government might be ready to answer it.

Sources:

• RAC: Government to review airport drop-off charges following sharp price increases
• RAC Media Centre: Airport drop-off fees review announced – RAC reaction
• Westminster Brief: Airports: Fees and Charges
• Parliament Petitions: Launch a review into airport terminal drop-off charges