Airport confirms £1 drop off charge
02.07.10
Edinburgh Airport has confirmed that it will introduce a £1 charge for dropping off passengers at its terminal building by car - so called 'kiss and fly' journeys. Rumours of plans to introduce a fee were first raised last month, and the airport confirmed yesterday that the fee would be introduced in October. A similar fee will be introduced at Cardiff Airport next Monday, at Belfast International next Wednesday, and is already in place at Luton and Newcastle airports.
Edinburgh is Scotland's busiest airport, attracting more than 9 million passengers a year. The levy will be enforced by barriers at a new drop-off zone on the ground-floor of the airport's multi-storey car park. The plate recognition scheme will work by charging drivers as they leave the area, with initial charges of £1 for 10 minutes. Anyone who overstays the 10 minutes will then have to pay more than £1, although the excess charge has yet to be decided
Construction on the new drop-off zone is due to begin later this month and will cost £1m. The existing drop-off point will be shifted to the bottom of the airport's multi-storey car park and will be known as a ‘fast-track’ drop-off point. A free drop-off zone will be retained at the long stay car park, from where passengers will be able to catch a bus to the terminal.
A spokesman for the airport said that the scheme will make it easier to accommodate traffic coming to the site and will reduce bottlenecks. He added that 15p from each £1 collected would be spent on improving public transport for airport passengers and on environmental projects.
Lothians Conservative MSP Gavin Brown criticised the decision, calling it ‘opportunistic’. He told BBC Scotland: ‘I think it is a terrible decision. A £1 charge just for dropping off a friend or relative at the airport is plain mean. It seems to me a particularly mean way of extracting money from the motorist.’
However, Gordon Dewar, managing director of Edinburgh Airport, said that it is a commercial entity, and that it had spent £4m last year updating its forecourt. He said: ‘Every other mode of transport contributes to drop-off close to our terminal and we believe that drivers should be no different.‘
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