DRIVERS are being charged twice as much to drop off passengers at most airports since the start of the pandemic.
But the study by Money Saving Expert found that in some cases the price hikes are even worse.
Stansted Airport now has the most expensive five-minute drop-off fee of £7, with a half an hour wait costing an eye-watering £25.
Other notable increases are found at Bristol Airport which has hiked its price for a 10 minute stay from £1 to £5 – a massive 400% increase.
Aberdeen Airport has doubled its 10-minute stay from £2 to £4, while Edinburgh Airport now charges £4 for a five-minute wait, when it was £2 in 2019.
Glasgow and Newcastle Airports have also doubled the cost of a drop-off, while Exeter Airport has triple the cost of a 30-minute from £1 to £3.
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Some airports that didn’t charge for any length of stay back in 2019 are now charging. These include Gatwick, Heathrow and Norwich.
Oli Townsend, assistant deals & features editor at MoneySavingExpert.com, said: “The cost of dropping people off at an airport has soared since the pandemic.
“Many passengers will rightly be shocked when hit with a charge as much as £7 just to set someone down outside the terminal.
“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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Happily, some airports are still not charging anything for you to drop off a passenger.
Belfast City Airport is free for up to 10 minutes, Cardiff Airport offers five minutes free and Jersey and London City Airports are free but you’re not allowed to hang about.
The most generous in the study are Inverness and the Isle of Man, with both of these airports being free with no mention of not being allowed to wait.
