At the start of 2026, the UK airport drop off charges are higher than ever. Don’t get caught out paying unnecessary fees by checking our round up of the latest drop off charges around the UK airports.
In 2021 many of the UK’s airports introduced drop off charges to vehicles arriving at the departure terminal. The reason given at the time was to recover lost revenues from the ban on flights during the Covid outbreak. Since then the charges have not only remained in place but have increased each year by £1 in the cases of London Heathrow and London Gatwick.
Since the start of 2026 however, London Gatwick Airport announced it would be introducing a steeper fee of £10 for a ten-minute drop off which is a whopping 43% increase from its previous £7 charge which makes it Britain’s most expensive airport drop off charge taking the crown from Bristol which is £8.50.
Birmingham Airport deserves a shout out for still being free for 10 minutes!
Gatwick has responded by blaming most of this increase on “a more than doubling of our business rates”.Is this simply a shallow excuse, or is there some merit behind it. Airpoorts are looking to push passengers to use the free car park shuttles to get to the terminal. Unfortunately, this simpy adds extra time and stress to the airport journey. You have to wait for the shuttle to arrive and then it stops to pick up other passengers along the route.
That said, the stark facts are Britain’s airports’ expensive ‘kiss and fly’ policy seems incredibly harsh when compared to Europe’s where all the airports except Amsterdam’s Schiphol offer free minutes to departing passengers.
Also do not forget to pay your drop off charge before midnight the following day as failure to do so will result in a fine of at least £60.
Also note most airport drop off charges do NOT apply to Blue Badge Holders. But please check before you go.
So as of January 2026, here is our latest unmissable guide to the main UK Airport drop off charges.
London Airports
London Heathrow £7 for 10 minutes (maximum stay).
London Gatwick £10 up to 10 minutes and then £1 per minute thereafter up to a maximum of 30 minutes.
London Stansted £7 up to 15 minutes. Over 15 minutes £25 with maximum of 30 minutes.
London Luton £7 up to 10 minutes and then £1 per minute thereafter up to a maximum of 30 minutes.
London Southend £8 up to 10 minutes. 10–30 mins: £16.
London City £8 for 5 minutes and then £1 per minute thereafter up to a maximum of 10 minutes.
UK Provincial Airports
Aberdeen £5.50 up to 15 minutes and then £1 per minute thereafter. Flat charge of £50 after 30 minutes.
Bristol £8.50 for 10 minutes £10.50 for 10 – 20 minutes, 20-40 minutes £13
Birmingham FREE for up to 10 minutes. 10-15 minutes £5. 15-20 minutes £6. 20-25 minutes £12.
Manchester £5 for up to 5 minutes. 10 minutes is £6.40. Then up to 30 minutes £25
East Midlands £5 for up to 15 minutes. £1 thereafter for every minute. Maximum stay is 30 minutes.
Newcastle Up to 10 minutes is £5. Up to £30 minutes is £10. Up to 45 minutes is £14.
Liverpool John Lennon £6 up to 10 minutes. Up to 20 minutes is £10.
Leeds Bradford £7 up to 10 minutes. 10-20 minutes is £9 20-30 minutes is £12.50
Glasgow £6 up to 15 minutes. £1 per minute thereafter up to 30 minutes. After 30 minutes £50.
Glasgow Prestwick £4.50 up to 60 minutes.
Cornwall Newquay Free for 10 minutes.
Belfast City £4 up to 10 minutes. 10-20 minutes £6. 21-30 minutes £20.
Belfast International Up to 10 minutes £3. 10-20 minutes £5.
Cardiff £3 up to 10 minutes. £3 for every 10 minutes thereafter.
