The short answer
Pay the East Midlands Airport drop-off charge (from £8) by 23:59 the day after your visit: online at pay.eastmidlandsairport.com, by automated phone on 03452 221517, or automatically with an autopay account. Nothing is paid at the zone — cameras record your number plate and you pay afterwards. Breaches bring a Parking Charge of up to £100, reduced to £60 if paid within 14 days, plus a debt-recovery fee of up to £70.
Charges and deadlines change without notice — reconfirm on the day.
Key facts: paying the East Midlands drop-off charge
- Charge
- Rapid Drop Off: £8 for up to 10 minutes
- If you stay longer
- £1 per minute beyond 10 minutes; 30-minute maximum stay
- Pay by
- By 23:59 the day after your visit
- Pay online
- pay.eastmidlandsairport.com
- Pay by phone
- 03452 221517
- Pay at the airport
- No — nothing to pay at the zone; ANPR cameras log your plate
- Autopay / account
- Yes — set up an account with your vehicle and a card before your visit, and each visit is charged automatically, so there is no deadline to remember
- If you don't pay
- Breaches bring a Parking Charge of up to £100, reduced to £60 if paid within 14 days, plus a debt-recovery fee of up to £70.
- Exemptions
- Blue Badge holders park free for up to 30 minutes in Short Stay 1. The airport lists no Blue Badge concession for the Rapid Drop Off lanes.
- Verified
- 26 Oct 2026, against www.eastmidlandsairport.com
How to pay the East Midlands drop-off charge, step by step
- Drop off as normal. There is no barrier and no ticket at East Midlands's drop-off zone — ANPR cameras record your registration on entry.
- Pay by 23:59 the day after your visit. Go to pay.eastmidlandsairport.com, or call the automated line on 03452 221517. You'll be asked for your vehicle registration so the system can match your visit, then pay.
- Keep the confirmation. Hold on to the payment reference or email until well after the deadline has passed, in case of a query or a notice sent in error.
- Regular user? Set up autopay. East Midlands offers an account that charges each visit automatically, with no deadline to remember — worth it if you make this run more than a couple of times a year.
When is the deadline to pay?
Pay by 23:59 the day after your visit. The deadline runs from the visit, not from when you remember it, and because nothing is paid on site the trip can feel free — that is exactly how people get caught. The habit that works: pay before you leave the airport, or as soon as you get home.
What happens if you don't pay?
Breaches bring a Parking Charge of up to £100, reduced to £60 if paid within 14 days, plus a debt-recovery fee of up to £70. If a notice does arrive, pay it inside the 14-day window for the reduced amount; the notice itself sets out how to challenge it if you believe it was issued in error.
Can you pay at the airport?
No. Fully barrierless: you drive through without stopping and pay afterwards — there's nothing to pay in the lanes. There's nothing to pay at the zone itself, so the visit only looks free: pay before you leave the airport, or as soon as you're home.
Is there an autopay or account option?
Yes. Set up an account with your vehicle and a card before your visit, and each visit is charged automatically, so the deadline stops mattering — the sensible default for anyone who does the East Midlands run regularly, including taxi and private-hire drivers.
Who doesn't have to pay?
Blue Badge holders park free for up to 30 minutes in Short Stay 1. The airport lists no Blue Badge concession for the Rapid Drop Off lanes. How each UK airport treats Blue Badge holders varies enormously — the Blue Badge drop-off guide compares all 29.
How to avoid the charge next time
You don't have to use the charged zone at all: 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. Allow extra time for the transfer. Details in the East Midlands drop-off guide, and every airport's free option is in the free drop-off guide.
Collecting someone is a different transaction — see the pick-up rules for East Midlands and the UK pick-up charges guide.
If you're the one flying next time
No drop-off charge, no collection car park, no deadline to remember: park.
Pre-booked parking at East Midlands means nobody pays the £8 forecourt charge on the way out, nobody sits in a car park waiting for your bags on the way back, and there's no payment deadline to remember. The car is waiting when you land.
Pre-book East Midlands parking →
Affiliate link — we may earn a commission if you book, at no extra cost to you. It never affects our charges data.
Sources
- East Midlands Airport — drop-off charge terms: https://www.eastmidlandsairport.com/parking/pick-up-and-drop-off/ (checked 26 Oct 2026)
- Official payment site: https://pay.eastmidlandsairport.com
- Our full entry for this airport, with location, pick-up rules and fee history: East Midlands drop-off charge
Paying at East Midlands: your questions
How do I pay the East Midlands Airport drop-off charge?
Pay the East Midlands Airport drop-off charge (from £8) by 23:59 the day after your visit: online at pay.eastmidlandsairport.com, by automated phone on 03452 221517, or automatically with an autopay account. Nothing is paid at the zone — cameras record your number plate and you pay afterwards. Breaches bring a Parking Charge of up to £100, reduced to £60 if paid within 14 days, plus a debt-recovery fee of up to £70.
When do I have to pay the East Midlands drop-off charge by?
Pay by 23:59 the day after your visit. Nothing is paid at the zone — settle it online or by phone afterwards.
What happens if I forget to pay the East Midlands drop-off charge?
Breaches bring a Parking Charge of up to £100, reduced to £60 if paid within 14 days, plus a debt-recovery fee of up to £70. If a notice does arrive, pay it inside the 14-day window for the reduced amount; the notice itself sets out how to challenge it if you believe it was issued in error.
Can I pay the East Midlands drop-off charge at the airport?
No. Fully barrierless: you drive through without stopping and pay afterwards — there's nothing to pay in the lanes.
Is there a phone number to pay the East Midlands drop-off charge?
Yes — the automated payment line is 03452 221517. You can also pay online at pay.eastmidlandsairport.com.
Can I pay the East Midlands drop-off charge in advance or automatically?
Automatically, yes: set up an autopay account before your visit and each visit is charged to it, so there is no deadline to remember. Without one, pay after each visit, by 23:59 the day after your visit.
Do Blue Badge holders pay the East Midlands drop-off charge?
Blue Badge holders park free for up to 30 minutes in Short Stay 1. The airport lists no Blue Badge concession for the Rapid Drop Off lanes.
How much is the East Midlands drop-off charge?
£8 for up to 10 minutes; £1 per minute beyond 10 minutes; 30-minute maximum stay. Where the zone is, the free alternative and the pick-up rules are in the East Midlands drop-off guide at https://airportdropoffcharges.co.uk/east-midlands/.
Method & corrections
Every charge 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 check every figure and who maintains the site.
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) — about the data.