The short answer
Airport drop-off charges don't stop for Christmas. London Heathrow, London Gatwick, London Stansted and London City all say their charge applies 24 hours a day, every day of the year, and Manchester says its tariff applies at all times. The payment deadline keeps running too: at most airports it's midnight the day after you drop off, so a Christmas Eve drop-off must be paid by midnight on Christmas Day. With no National Rail trains anywhere in Great Britain on Christmas Day, expect busier forecourts, and note that some airport car parks and shuttles close for winter.
Checked on 25 Oct 2026 against the airports' own pages, their operators' help centres, National Rail and TfL. Anything from last Christmas is labelled as such: we'll update this page when TfL and the rail companies publish their 2026 details. How we checked.
The Christmas and New Year dates that matter, 2026–27
Boxing Day is a Saturday this year, so the bank holiday moves to Monday 28 December. The last column applies where you pay by midnight the next day, as at most camera-enforced airports.
| Date | What to expect | Dropped off this day? Pay by |
|---|---|---|
| Thursday 24 DecemberChristmas Eve | Trains on many routes finish earlier than normal. London black cabs add a £4 Christmas extra from 20:00. | midnight on Friday 25 December |
| Friday 25 DecemberChristmas Day | No National Rail trains anywhere in Great Britain. Belfast City Airport is closed. | midnight on Saturday 26 December |
| Saturday 26 DecemberBoxing Day | A very limited train service, run by a few operators. No Elizabeth line, Heathrow Express, Gatwick Express or Luton DART. | midnight on Sunday 27 December |
| Monday 28 DecemberBoxing Day bank holiday (substitute day) | Boxing Day falls on a Saturday, so the bank holiday moves to Monday. Phone helplines that close on bank holidays are closed. | midnight on Tuesday 29 December |
| Thursday 31 DecemberNew Year's Eve | Trains on some routes finish earlier than normal. The black cab extra applies again from 20:00. | midnight on Friday 1 January |
| Friday 1 JanuaryNew Year's Day | Bank holiday across the UK. The black cab extra runs until 06:00 on 2 January. | midnight on Saturday 2 January |
| Monday 4 January2 January bank holiday, Scotland (substitute day) | 2 January falls on a Saturday, so Scotland's extra bank holiday moves to Monday 4 January. | midnight on Tuesday 5 January |
Belfast City is the only airport in our index to have published a Christmas Day closure so far; smaller airports with few flights may also close or cut their hours, so check before you travel. The big airports stay open: last Christmas Gatwick scheduled 249 flights on Christmas Day, Manchester 85 departures and Bristol 14 flights.
Paying a drop-off charge over the bank holidays
The deadline doesn't move for Christmas. Where you pay after the visit, it's usually midnight the next day (Birmingham gives 24 hours from leaving its car park); at barrier airports you pay as you leave. What does change is help: many of the phone teams behind the charges close on bank holidays.
- Heathrow: Customer Services closes on 25 and 26 December and on public holidays, including 28 December and 1 January (08:00 to 17:00 on Christmas Eve), but the automated payment line, 0330 008 5600, is open 24 hours. Missed it? Heathrow's operator has a late-payment route if you contact it within 7 days: see how.
- Gatwick: the parking call centre closes on 25 and 26 December; the automated payment line is 0330 174 4503.
- London City, Stansted, Manchester, Luton and East Midlands: the operator's drop-off team is closed on bank holidays, and Stansted's, Manchester's and East Midlands' teams are also closed at weekends, so they're shut from 25 to 28 December and from 1 to 3 January. Pay online, or by an automated line where there is one.
The safest habit over Christmas: set up the airport's AutoPay account before you travel, or pay the moment you're home. Every airport's payment site, deadline and penalty is in the how-to-pay guide. We're an independent guide and don't take payments.
Every UK airport over Christmas: charge, payment and winter notes
All 29 airports we track, busiest first. 21 have published something seasonal or relevant to Christmas travel; tap an airport for its full drop-off guide.
| Airport | Charge | Pay | Christmas and winter |
|---|---|---|---|
| London Heathrow | £7 for each entry | Afterwards, by midnight the day after you use the zone | Heathrow says the charge applies 24 hours, 365 days a year. Customer Services is open 08:00 to 17:00 on 24 December and closed on 25 and 26 December and on public holidays, including 28 December and 1 January; the automated payment line, 0330 008 5600, is open 24 hours. No Heathrow Express from 25 to 30 December, and no Elizabeth line on 25 and 26 December; from 27 to 30 December the Elizabeth line doesn't run to Heathrow, so use the Piccadilly line. |
| London Gatwick | £10 for up to 10 minutes | Afterwards, by midnight the day after you use the zone | Gatwick's terms say the tariff applies 24 hours a day, 365 days of the year. The parking call centre is closed on 25 and 26 December (10:00 to 16:00 on other bank holidays); the automated payment line is 0330 174 4503. No Gatwick Express on 25 or 26 December (Southern runs a limited service on the 26th). Buses replace GWR trains between Reigate and Redhill or Gatwick from 20 December to 3 January, except on 25 and 26 December, when there are no GWR trains or buses. |
| London Stansted | £10 for up to 15 minutes | Afterwards, by midnight the day after your visit | Stansted's Express Set Down terms say the charge applies 24 hours a day, 365 days of the year. Its customer service team works Monday to Friday only and is closed on bank holidays, so it's closed from 25 to 28 December and from 1 to 3 January. JetParks closes over winter (no dates published). No Stansted Express on Christmas Day; on 26 December it runs half-hourly to Tottenham Hale only, not Liverpool Street. |
| London Luton | £9 for up to 12 minutes | Afterwards, by midnight the following day | The drop-off operator's customer service team is closed on bank holidays and Sundays: pay online. The Luton DART, the shuttle from Luton Airport Parkway station, doesn't run on 25 and 26 December. |
| London City | £8 for up to 5 minutes | Afterwards, by midnight the day after your visit | The operator says the charge applies 24/7, and payment is required for every visit. Its drop-off team is closed on bank holidays; the automated payment line is 0344 332 1237. |
| Manchester | £5.50 for up to 5 minutes | Afterwards, by midnight the following day | Manchester's terms say the tariff applies at all times, and the free JetParks 1 drop-off's terms apply 24 hours a day all year round. The operator's customer service team works Monday to Friday only and is closed on bank holidays, so it's closed from 25 to 28 December and from 1 to 3 January. On 27 December, until 10:00, buses replace trains between Manchester Piccadilly and the airport. |
| Birmingham | £8 for up to 15 minutes | Afterwards, within 24 hours of exit | No trains at Birmingham New Street from 24 to 28 December; London Northwestern runs between London Euston or Northampton and Birmingham International only. |
| Edinburgh | £8.50 for up to 10 minutes | As you leave | No ScotRail trains on Christmas Day; last Christmas (2025), Edinburgh Trams didn't run on Christmas Day either. |
| Bristol | £8.50 for up to 10 minutes | As you leave | Nothing seasonal published yet: check the airport's own site before you travel. |
| Glasgow | £7 for up to 15 minutes | As you leave | The airport is open 24 hours. No ScotRail trains on Christmas Day; last Christmas (2025), the Glasgow Airport Express bus didn't run on Christmas Day either. |
| Aberdeen | £7 for up to 15 minutes | As you leave | The airport is open 24 hours. No ScotRail trains on Christmas Day. |
| Leeds Bradford | £8 for up to 10 minutes | As you leave | Nothing seasonal published yet: check the airport's own site before you travel. |
| Newcastle | £6 for up to 10 minutes | As you leave | Nothing seasonal published yet: check the airport's own site before you travel. |
| Liverpool John Lennon | £7 for up to 10 minutes | As you leave | Nothing seasonal published yet: check the airport's own site before you travel. |
| East Midlands | £8 for up to 10 minutes | Afterwards, by 23:59 the day after your visit | The airport says Long Stay and JetParks close over winter, with no dates published, and last winter the free Long Stay 2 shuttle stopped from 1 November to 31 March: check before you rely on Long Stay 2's free hour. The drop-off operator's team is closed at weekends and on bank holidays. |
| Belfast International | £5 for up to 10 minutes | As you leave | The airport says it operates 24/7 all year round. |
| Belfast City | £4 for up to 10 minutes | As you leave | Closed on Christmas Day, the airport says; it's open 04:00 to 22:00 on other days. |
| Cardiff Wales | £4.50 for up to 10 minutes | Barrier | No Transport for Wales trains on 25 or 26 December. |
| Bournemouth | £8 for up to 30 minutes | As you leave | Nothing seasonal published yet: check the airport's own site before you travel. |
| Southampton | £7 for up to 20 minutes | As you leave | The drop-off area is open 24 hours. The Long Stay car park is closed, so there's no free option. |
| Glasgow Prestwick | £4.50 for up to 60 minutes | As you leave | Car Park Three, which is pre-book only, is closed from the end of October until the beginning of March. |
| London Southend | £8 for up to 10 minutes | Afterwards, by midnight the following day | The terminal isn't open 24 hours: it opens 3 hours before the first scheduled departure. |
| Cornwall Newquay | Free for 10 minutes | None required within free period | The terminal's winter opening hours, from 25 October 2026: 06:30 to 19:30, Monday to Sunday. |
| Exeter | £8 for up to 15 minutes | As you leave | Nothing seasonal published yet: check the airport's own site before you travel. |
| Norwich | £8 for up to 20 minutes | As you leave | Winter opening hours, 1 November 2026 to 27 March 2027: 04:00 to 21:30 Sunday to Friday, 04:00 to 20:00 on Saturday. |
| Teesside | £2.50 for up to 10 minutes | As you leave | Nothing seasonal published yet: check the airport's own site before you travel. |
| Inverness | £3.90 for up to 30 minutes | As you leave | The terminal is open 04:15 to 22:45. |
| Humberside | Free for 15 minutes | Pay on departure at the automatic ticket machines in and around the terminal buildings, which take all major credit and debit cards as well as cash | Nothing seasonal published yet: check the airport's own site before you travel. |
| City of Derry | £1 for up to 20 minutes | As you leave | The car park is locked when the airport is closed. |
Seasonal notes checked 25 Oct 2026 against: Heathrow drop-off charge, National Rail: Paddington engineering works, National Rail: Heathrow Express, Drop-off terms and conditions, Contact Gatwick parking, National Rail: Reigate–Gatwick works, National Rail: Gatwick Express, Express Set Down terms, Stansted parking, National Rail: Stansted Express, APCOA Stansted: team hours, APCOA Luton: team hours, Luton DART FAQs, APCOA London City: the charge, APCOA London City: team hours, Southend FAQs, Drop Off Zone terms, Free drop-off terms, National Rail: Northern, APCOA Manchester: team hours, National Rail: Birmingham New Street closure, East Midlands parking, Pick up and drop off, Glasgow pick up and drop off, First Glasgow festive services (2025), Aberdeen dropping off, National Rail: ScotRail, National Rail: ScotRail, Edinburgh Trams festive timetable (2025), Belfast City FAQs, Belfast International airport info, National Rail: Transport for Wales, Prestwick parking, Aerodrome information, Passenger information, Southampton drop off and pick up, City of Derry car parking and Inverness airport information. Charges are from each airport's own page, as dated on its guide.
Getting to the airport without a lift on Christmas Day
The reason Christmas Day forecourts fill up: National Rail says there will be no trains on Christmas Day, and only a very limited service, from a few operators, on Boxing Day. Christmas Eve and New Year's Eve services finish early on many routes. For the airports:
- Heathrow: no Heathrow Express from 25 to 30 December; no Elizabeth line on 25 and 26 December, and from 27 to 30 December it doesn't run to Heathrow (National Rail suggests the Piccadilly line).
- Gatwick: no Gatwick Express on 25 or 26 December (Southern runs a limited service on the 26th); buses replace GWR trains between Reigate and Redhill or Gatwick from 20 December to 3 January, except on 25 and 26 December.
- Stansted: no Stansted Express on Christmas Day; on 26 December it runs to Tottenham Hale only.
- Luton: the Luton DART from Luton Airport Parkway doesn't run on 25 and 26 December.
- Manchester: on 27 December, until 10:00, buses replace trains between Manchester Piccadilly and the airport.
- Birmingham: no trains at Birmingham New Street from 24 to 28 December; London Northwestern runs from London Euston or Northampton to Birmingham International only.
- Scotland and Wales: no ScotRail trains on Christmas Day, and no Transport for Wales trains on 25 or 26 December.
TfL hasn't published its 2026 plans yet. Last Christmas (2025) there was no service on most of its network on Christmas Day, and no Elizabeth line on Boxing Day. Coaches are the exception: last Christmas National Express ran 355 journeys on Christmas Day, including to airports. Check its 2026 timetable before you rely on it.
Taxis over Christmas and New Year
London black cabs add a £4 extra to journeys between 20:00 on 24 December and 06:00 on 27 December, and between 20:00 on 31 December and 06:00 on 2 January; TfL's public-holiday rate, Tariff 3, applies all day on public holidays. At the airports, cabbies can add drop-off extras to the meter: up to £6 at Heathrow (TfL, April 2025) and £6 at London City (TfL, April 2026). Minicab and app firms set their own prices, and most pass on the airport's drop-off charge. Each airport's rules for taxis are on its how-to-pay page, for example Heathrow and London City.
Collecting someone: free waiting, and the overstay traps
Winter flights run late, and waiting at the kerb is where Christmas pick-ups get expensive. The free options at the busiest airports, and where they don't help with a pick-up:
- London Heathrow: Park & Ride car parks (former Long Stay), free drop-off, with a free shuttle bus to the terminal every 15 minutes; pick-ups are free for the first 29 minutes (2 hours in Zone A for Terminal 4).
- London Gatwick: Long Stay car parks, 2 hours free, with a shuttle bus every 10 to 12 minutes that takes about 10 to 12 minutes to the terminals.
- Manchester: no free waiting for a pick-up. JetParks 1 is a free drop-off area and its shuttle runs one way only, so collect from T2 Express Pick Up (£6.60 for up to 15 minutes) or the multi-storeys.
- London Stansted: Mid Stay car park, first 60 minutes free — pick-up or drop-off — with a free shuttle taking about 7 minutes.
- London Luton: Long Stay car park, 2 hours free, bus to terminal.
- Edinburgh: Long Stay free zone, 30 minutes free in the Long Stay car park — no shuttle bus, a 10-minute walk to the terminal.
- Birmingham: the free Drop Off car park (10 minutes) is signed for drop-offs; for collections the airport points you to Car Park 5, from £12 for up to an hour.
- Glasgow: Long Stay car park, 1 hour free, walk or shuttle to terminal.
- Bristol: Waiting Zone, 60 minutes free, with a frequent bus to the Transport Interchange; temporarily relocated from 19 October to 18 December 2026, with no return within 30 minutes.
- Newcastle: Callerton Parkway, 90 minutes free, with a free shuttle bus to the terminal.
- East Midlands: Long Stay 2, 60 minutes free; a 15–20 minute walk, or the free shuttle bus, which the airport suspended from November 2025 to March 2026, so check whether it runs this winter. Check winter opening first.
- Leeds Bradford: One Hour Free Zone, up to 1 hour free, a 3–4-minute uphill walk to the terminal via the Mid Stay walkway — £68 minimum charge if you re-enter within an hour.
And the traps: London Heathrow allows no pick-ups or waiting in its drop-off zones; Manchester charges £100 for attempting a pick-up in its Drop Off zones; London Stansted's Express Set Down jumps from £10 to £28 after 15 minutes; and London Luton charges £95 for staying past 30 minutes. Every airport's pick-up rules: airport pick-up charges; every free option: free airport drop-off.
Parking instead: book early, and check winter closures
Christmas is when car parks fill, so the airports' own advice is to book ahead. Some car parks close for winter: London Stansted's JetParks, East Midlands's Long Stay and JetParks (no dates published), and Glasgow Prestwick's pre-book Car Park Three, from the end of October to the beginning of March. Compare what each airport charges if you just turn up in our airport parking price comparison, or see whether parking beats being dropped off.
Flying over Christmas?
Pre-book airport parking before it fills
Booking sites sell the airports' own car parks alongside park & ride and meet & greet. Prices change often, so compare them live for your dates.
These are affiliate links: we may earn a commission if you book, at no extra cost to you. It never affects the prices and facts on this page.
Christmas and New Year: your questions
Do airport drop-off charges apply on Christmas Day?
Yes, where the airport charges at all. Heathrow, Gatwick, Stansted and London City say their charge applies 24 hours a day, every day of the year, and Manchester says its tariff applies at all times. Belfast City Airport is closed on Christmas Day.
If I drop someone off on Christmas Eve, when do I have to pay?
At airports where you pay by midnight the next day, a drop-off on Thursday 24 December must be paid by midnight on Friday 25 December. Pay online, or by an automated phone line where there is one; many staffed helplines are closed on bank holidays.
Are there trains to the airport on Christmas Day?
No National Rail trains run anywhere in Great Britain on Christmas Day, and Boxing Day has only a very limited service. There's no Heathrow Express from 25 to 30 December, no Gatwick Express on 25 or 26 December, no Stansted Express on Christmas Day, and the Luton DART doesn't run on 25 and 26 December.
Is the Heathrow drop-off charge free on bank holidays?
No. Heathrow says the £7 charge applies 24 hours, 365 days a year. Customer Services is closed on 25 and 26 December and on public holidays, but you can pay online or on the automated line, 0330 008 5600, which is open 24 hours.
Which UK airports are closed on Christmas Day?
Belfast City is the only airport in our index to have published a Christmas Day closure so far. The big airports stay open: last Christmas Gatwick scheduled 249 flights on Christmas Day, Manchester 85 departures and Bristol 14 flights. Smaller airports with few flights may close or cut their hours, so check before you travel.
Do London taxis cost more at Christmas?
Yes. Black cabs add a £4 extra between 20:00 on 24 December and 06:00 on 27 December, and between 20:00 on 31 December and 06:00 on 2 January, and the public-holiday rate applies all day on public holidays. Airport drop-off extras go on top.
Are airport car parks open over Christmas?
The airports' own car parks stay open, but some close for winter: Stansted's JetParks, East Midlands' Long Stay and JetParks, and Glasgow Prestwick's pre-book Car Park Three. Book ahead at busy times.
How we checked
Every seasonal note on this page comes from the airport's own website, its drop-off operator's help centre, National Rail, TfL or gov.uk, checked on 25 Oct 2026, and each is listed in the sources above. Where only last year's arrangements are published, we say so. Charges come from each airport's guide on this site. Christmas timetables are often confirmed late, so check before you travel; we'll update this page in early December. How we check · About this site.