All 29 UK airport drop-off charges, ranked
Most expensive first. Every figure is the airport's nearest-terminal "kiss and fly" charge, verified against its own published prices — click any airport for the full guide to its charge, how to pay it, and the free alternative.
| # | Airport | Drop-off charge | Time included | Effective rate |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | London Gatwick | £10 | 10 min | £1.00/min |
| 1 | London Stansted | £10 | 15 min | £0.67/min |
| 3 | London Luton | £9 | 12 min | £0.75/min |
| 4 | Bristol | £8.50 | 10 min | £0.85/min |
| 4 | Edinburgh | £8.50 | 10 min | £0.85/min |
| 6 | Bournemouth | £8 | 30 min | £0.27/min |
| 6 | Exeter | £8 | 15 min | £0.53/min |
| 6 | Leeds Bradford | £8 | 10 min | £0.80/min |
| 6 | London City | £8 | 5 min | £1.60/min |
| 6 | London Southend | £8 | 10 min | £0.80/min |
| 6 | Norwich | £8 | 20 min | £0.40/min |
| 12 | Aberdeen | £7 | 15 min | £0.47/min |
| 12 | Birmingham | £7 | 15 min | £0.47/min |
| 12 | Glasgow | £7 | 15 min | £0.47/min |
| 12 | Liverpool John Lennon | £7 | 10 min | £0.70/min |
| 12 | London Heathrow | £7 | per entry | — |
| 12 | Southampton | £7 | 20 min | £0.35/min |
| 18 | Newcastle | £6 | 10 min | £0.60/min |
| 19 | Manchester | £5.50 | 5 min | £1.10/min |
| 20 | Belfast International | £5 | 10 min | £0.50/min |
| 20 | East Midlands | £5 | 15 min | £0.33/min |
| 22 | Cardiff Wales | £4.50 | 10 min | £0.45/min |
| 22 | Glasgow Prestwick | £4.50 | 60 min | £0.07/min |
| 24 | Belfast City | £4 | 10 min | £0.40/min |
| 25 | Inverness | £3.90 | 30 min | £0.13/min |
| 26 | Teesside | £2.50 | 10 min | £0.25/min |
| 27 | City of Derry | £1 | 20 min | £0.05/min |
| — | Cornwall Newquay | FREE | 10 min free | — |
| — | Humberside | FREE | 15 min free | — |
The most expensive airport drop-offs in the UK
London Gatwick and London Stansted share the top spot at £10 per drop-off. Bristol and Edinburgh follow at £8.50. But the priciest by the minute is London City — £8 for just 5 minutes works out at £1.60 per minute, the steepest effective rate in the country.
The cheapest places to drop off
Among airports that charge, City of Derry (£1), Teesside (£2.50) and Inverness (£3.90) are the kindest to your wallet. And Cornwall Newquay and Humberside still charge nothing at all at the terminal — see which UK airports offer free drop-off for every free option.
The average UK airport drop-off charge is £6.59
Across the 27 UK airports that charge, the average drop-off fee is £6.59 and the median is £7, with charges running from £1 at City of Derry to £10 at the top. 2 of the 29 airports tracked are still free at the terminal. Figures verified 25 Aug 2026.
Drop-off fee rises: how charges have climbed
Where airports have raised their charge, the typical increase is about 39%. Every recorded rise:
| Airport | Was | Now | Rise |
|---|---|---|---|
| London Luton | £5 (2024) | £9 | +80% |
| Edinburgh | £5 (2024) | £8.50 | +70% |
| Belfast International | £3 (2025) | £5 | +67% |
| Cardiff Wales | £3 (2025) | £4.50 | +50% |
| London Gatwick | £7 (2025) | £10 | +43% |
| London Stansted | £7 (2025) | £10 | +43% |
| Bristol | £6 (2024) | £8.50 | +42% |
| London Heathrow | £5 (2023) | £7 | +40% |
| Liverpool John Lennon | £5 (2025) | £7 | +40% |
| London City | £6 (2025) | £8 | +33% |
| Norwich | £6 (2026) | £8 | +33% |
| Leeds Bradford | £6.50 (2024) | £8 | +23% |
| London Southend | £7 (2025) | £8 | +14% |
| Manchester | £5 (2025) | £5.50 | +10% |
| Inverness | £3.85 (2025) | £3.90 | +1% |
Also see: free airport drop-off options · airport pick-up charges · the full comparison table.
The direction of travel: up, and cashless
No airport in this index has ever cut its drop-off charge, and none has reintroduced a free option once it started charging. 2026 alone has seen at least four price events: Belfast International up 66% in March, London Stansted moving to £10/£28 the same month, Cardiff Wales up 50% in July — and London City introducing a charge for the very first time in January, having been the last London airport where dropping off cost nothing. London Southend went a different way in the same period: it kept its charge and withdrew the free alternative instead. Every change we record lands in the updates log with its source.
The operational shift underneath is just as clear. The newest charges don't arrive with barriers and ticket machines — they arrive as camera systems. 9 of the 29 airports now run barrier-free ANPR where you drive through and settle up afterwards, and the newest charge of all, London City's, launched that way from day one.
Two kinds of airport: pay-at-barrier vs pay-later
The price is only half the story — when you pay decides whether you can get a penalty. At the 16 barrier and pay-on-exit airports (Aberdeen, Belfast City, Belfast International, Bournemouth, City of Derry and Edinburgh among them), payment happens before you leave, so there is no deadline to forget: overstay and the tariff simply climbs. At the 9 ANPR post-pay airports — Birmingham, East Midlands, London City, London Gatwick, London Heathrow, London Luton, London Southend, London Stansted and Manchester — nothing is paid on site, a deadline follows you home (usually midnight the next day, 24 hours at Birmingham), and missing it turns a few pounds into a Parking Charge Notice of £80–£100, reduced only if you pay within 14 days. If you remember one thing from this page: know which kind of airport you're driving to. The how-to-pay guide lists every post-pay airport's portal, deadline and penalty in one place, and each airport's guide spells out its how-and-when-to-pay rules.
Price index: your questions
What is the most expensive UK airport for drop-off?
London Gatwick and London Stansted are joint-highest at £10 per drop-off. By effective rate, London City is steepest: £8 for 5 minutes is £1.60 per minute.
What is the cheapest UK airport to drop off at?
Cornwall Newquay and Humberside are free at the terminal. Among airports that charge, City of Derry is cheapest at £1.
What is the average airport drop-off charge in the UK?
£6.59 across the 27 UK airports that charge (median £7), as of 25 Aug 2026.
How much have airport drop-off charges risen?
Where fees rose, the typical increase is about 39%. The largest recorded rise is London Luton's, up 80%.
Method & corrections
Every figure on this page is checked against the airport's own published charges and stamped with the date we checked it. We re-verify the full dataset quarterly, and after any reported change — see how we work and who maintains it.
Spotted an error? Email hello@airportdropoffcharges.co.uk — corrections are made visibly and dated. The dataset behind this page is free to reuse with attribution: JSON · CSV (CC BY 4.0).