Edinburgh airport has raised its fee for drivers dropping off or picking up passengers to £8.50 – a 42 per cent rise on the previous £6 charge.
It is now one of the most expensive drop-off fees in the UK, alongside Bristol and behind London Gatwick and London Stansted airports at £10. For electric vehicle owners, the increase is 183 per cent – because the previous half-price concession has been dropped.
Bosses of Scotland’s busiest hub say the aim is “to help cover an extra £8 million business rates bill recently imposed on the terminal” – the largest increase in costs faced by any UK airport.
The free drop-off and pick-up area, where passengers can park for up to 30 minutes without charge, will remain in place with more spaces added.
Gordon Dewar, chief executive of Edinburgh airport, said: “This decision to impose an unplanned and wholly disproportionate £8 million rates increase has an immediate and negative impact on our business.
“A 142 per cent increase reduces our ability to invest, grow and compete. In practical terms, it equates to funding around 200 jobs, two aircraft stands, or five new security lanes. It is not a cost that can be absorbed; it must be covered and trade-offs like this are unfortunately unavoidable.
“We had not planned to raise fees this year, but like many across the hospitality and tourism sectors who have seen business rates soar, we have no choice but to pass part of this cost on to passengers.”
Edinburgh airport is served by a tram, but the fare from the city centre leaps from £2.40 to £7.90 for the airport station.
Drop-off fees were first introduced following an attempted attack on the terminal at Glasgow in June 2007. Two terrorists tried to drive a Jeep laden with propane gas cylinders and petrol cans through the terminal doors and into the departure area.
In the wake of the attempted attack, airport forecourts across the UK had to be swiftly reconfigured to protect against a copycat attack. Birmingham airport decided to defray the cost by charging motorists. The idea quickly caught on.
Most expensive airports to drop off passengers
- Gatwick and Stansted – £10
- Edinburgh and Bristol – £8.50
- London City and Southend – £8
Most other major airports charge £7.
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