Gatwick's free drop-off option

Dropping someone directly outside Gatwick Airport now costs £5 for just 10 minutes, but passengers willing to take a short shuttle-bus journey can still be dropped off without paying anything at all. With airport drop-off charges reaching record levels across Britain, knowing where to go before arriving at Gatwick could save motorists money.

Taking a friend or family member to the airport used to be one of the simpler parts of travelling.

Drive to the terminal.

Unload the suitcases.

Say goodbye.

Drive away.

At many of Britain's largest airports, that brief journey now comes with an additional cost.

London Gatwick Airport introduced a charge for vehicles using its terminal forecourts in 2021, meaning anyone wanting the convenience of dropping passengers immediately outside the terminal must pay.

By September 2022, the charge is £5 for up to 10 minutes.

Stay longer and the price begins climbing rapidly.

But there is an alternative that some passengers may not realise exists.

You can still drop someone off at Gatwick Airport for free.

The catch?

You won't be dropping them directly outside the terminal.

Vehicles entering the designated forecourt drop-off areas at Gatwick's North and South terminals are charged £5 for the first 10 minutes.

After that, the charge increases by £1 for every additional minute up to 20 minutes.

The maximum charge is £25, and vehicles are limited to a maximum stay of 30 minutes.

That means a passenger saying a quick goodbye and unloading a suitcase might cost £5.

But taking too long can make the visit considerably more expensive.

For families unloading several cases, passengers with young children or anyone requiring additional assistance, ten minutes can disappear surprisingly quickly.

Passengers who don't want to pay the terminal forecourt charge have another option.

Gatwick allows motorists to use its Long Stay car park for free for up to two hours for passenger drop-offs and collections.

Passengers can then use the airport's free shuttle bus to reach the terminal.

It isn't as convenient as stopping directly outside departures.

But it costs nothing.

For passengers who aren't in a hurry — and particularly for families dropping someone off rather than travelling themselves — the extra time may be worth the £5 saving.

The principle is straightforward.

Instead of following signs towards the terminal forecourt drop-off zone, the driver heads for the appropriate Long Stay car park.

The passenger gets out there with their luggage.

They then board the complimentary airport shuttle towards the terminal.

Because Long Stay parking is free for the relevant initial period, the person driving them to Gatwick can leave without paying the terminal drop-off fee.

The important difference is time versus convenience.

Terminal forecourt: £5, but extremely convenient.

Long Stay: free, but requires a shuttle journey.

Which is preferable depends entirely on the passenger.

Gatwick introduced its forecourt charge during the aviation industry's recovery from the Covid-19 pandemic.

The North Terminal charge began on 8 March 2021, followed by the South Terminal on 12 April 2021.

At the time, Gatwick said the new charge would provide an additional revenue stream after the airport suffered enormous financial losses during the pandemic.

The airport also argued that charging vehicles to access the terminal forecourts could encourage more passengers to use public transport while helping to reduce traffic congestion and emissions around the airport.

Gatwick said some of the revenue would support sustainable transport initiatives.

Airport drop-off charges have become increasingly common across Britain.

Research published in August 2022 found that more than two-thirds of the UK's 21 busiest airports had increased their drop-off charges compared with the period before the pandemic.

Among London's major airports, the differences were considerable.

Stansted had the highest initial charge at £7 for 15 minutes.

Gatwick charged £5 for 10 minutes.

Luton charged £5 for 10 minutes.

Heathrow had also introduced a £5 terminal forecourt charge.

Both Heathrow and Gatwick had allowed free terminal drop-offs in 2019.

For passengers who remember being driven directly to the terminal without paying anything, the change has therefore been significant.

The comparison placed London Stansted at the top of the airport drop-off table.

Its Express Set Down area cost £7 for up to 15 minutes.

Remaining for longer than 15 minutes could increase the charge to £25.

The comparison demonstrates how quickly apparently small airport charges can add to the cost of travelling.

A family may already have paid for flights, luggage, seats, airport parking and travel insurance before even reaching the terminal.

Another £5 or £7 simply to stop outside departures is unlikely to be welcomed.

The wider trend is particularly noticeable when compared with 2019.

Before the pandemic, several airports either charged substantially less or allowed terminal drop-offs free of charge.

According to the analysis, Heathrow and Gatwick had both moved from free terminal drop-offs in 2019 to £5 charges in 2022.

Stansted's initial fee had increased from £4 for 10 minutes to £7 for 15 minutes.

Luton had moved from £4 for 13 minutes to £5 for 10 minutes.

The cost of simply getting someone to their flight has therefore become another consideration when calculating the total price of air travel.

For a passenger travelling alone with one suitcase, ten minutes should normally provide enough time to unload and leave the Gatwick forecourt.

But airport passengers aren't all travelling under the same circumstances.

Consider a family of five.

There may be several large suitcases.

Cabin luggage.

A pushchair.

Perhaps child seats that need to be removed or rearranged.

An elderly passenger may need additional time to get out of the vehicle.

Someone with reduced mobility may also require assistance.

In those circumstances, the clock can become another source of pressure.

At Gatwick, every additional minute beyond the initial ten-minute period adds another £1 until the higher charging threshold is reached.

Another point passengers should understand is that a terminal drop-off area isn't intended to be used as an arrivals waiting area.

When collecting someone from a flight, predicting exactly when they will emerge from the terminal is difficult.

An aircraft may land at 2pm.

That doesn't mean the passenger will be standing outside at 2.05pm.

They still have to disembark.

International passengers may need to clear immigration.

Checked luggage needs to reach the carousel.

Then there is the walk through customs and the terminal.

For that reason, Gatwick directed people collecting passengers towards the Short Stay car parks, while Long Stay provided the free alternative.

This distinction is particularly important for professional airport-transfer drivers.

A drop-off is comparatively predictable.

The vehicle arrives.

The luggage comes out.

The passengers leave.

A pickup is completely different.

Flight arrival time is only the beginning of the process.

Immigration queues can vary dramatically.

Baggage may arrive quickly or passengers may wait a considerable time.

Families take longer to move through terminals than individual business travellers.

This is why airport pickup arrangements frequently involve parking and waiting rather than simply stopping outside arrivals.

Gatwick's terminal drop-off system operates without conventional entry barriers.

Vehicles are identified using Automatic Number Plate Recognition (ANPR) cameras.

That makes the system convenient because drivers don't need to stop at a barrier and collect a ticket.

But it also means the responsibility for payment rests with the driver.

A vehicle entering the charging zone is recorded automatically.

Drivers therefore need to know they have entered a chargeable area.

Simply driving away without visiting a payment machine doesn't mean the charge has disappeared.

When the charging system was introduced, Gatwick also established Red Route restrictions around parts of the airport campus.

These are designed to prevent drivers from avoiding the official drop-off areas by stopping elsewhere on airport roads.

Stopping on restricted roads to unload passengers can therefore create a much more expensive problem than paying the £5 forecourt fee.

Passengers trying to save money should use the official free Long Stay option rather than simply finding another road near the terminal and stopping there.

Airport charges can sometimes encourage drivers to search for creative alternatives.

That isn't necessarily a good idea.

Stopping at petrol stations, road junctions, roundabouts or other unsuitable locations near an airport may be unsafe and could breach local restrictions.

Passengers with luggage also need a safe place to get out of the vehicle.

The official Long Stay alternative exists specifically for people who want to avoid the terminal forecourt fee.

Saving £5 isn't worth creating a dangerous situation.

Gatwick has unusually strong public transport connections for a major British airport.

Its railway station is integrated directly into the airport.

Passengers can travel from London and numerous destinations across southern England without needing a car at all.

That was one of Gatwick's arguments when introducing the forecourt charge: encouraging more passengers to use public transport could reduce congestion and emissions around the airport.

But public transport won't suit every journey.

Families carrying substantial luggage, passengers travelling during disruption or people living in areas without convenient rail connections may still prefer road transport.

When people compare flight prices, getting to the airport is often overlooked.

But ground transport can form a substantial part of the overall cost of travelling.

There may be: train tickets, fuel, airport parking, taxi or private hire fares, terminal drop-off charges, and potentially parking or waiting costs when collecting someone.

A £5 charge may look insignificant compared with the price of an international holiday.

But multiply those costs across millions of airport journeys and they become extremely significant.

An occasional traveller may visit Gatwick once or twice a year.

An airport-transfer driver can visit several times in a single day.

That changes the economics completely.

If a driver paid a £5 forecourt charge five times in one day, that would already represent £25 in airport access charges.

Across a working week, those costs become substantial.

This is why airport fees are normally treated separately from the basic journey fare or incorporated into the price charged for the airport transfer.

They are not simply additional income for the driver.

They are costs created by accessing airport facilities.

For most passengers, the decision comes down to convenience.

The terminal forecourt is undoubtedly easier.

You arrive directly outside the airport.

The luggage comes out of the vehicle.

Within minutes, you can be inside the terminal.

For a family with several suitcases or someone with mobility difficulties, that convenience may easily justify £5.

The Long Stay option requires more effort.

Passengers have to unload their luggage, wait for the shuttle and transfer to the terminal.

But for someone travelling lightly and with plenty of time, the free option can make perfect sense.

The most important lesson is simple: decide which option you want before arriving at Gatwick.

Airport road systems can be confusing, particularly for drivers who don't visit regularly.

By the time a motorist follows the signs into a chargeable forecourt, the ANPR cameras may already have recorded the vehicle.

If you want the convenience of the terminal, budget for the £5 fee.

If you want to avoid the charge, follow signs for the appropriate Long Stay car park and use the free shuttle.

Both are legitimate options.

They simply prioritise different things.

One saves time.

The other saves money.

For passengers travelling with luggage, children or in groups, a pre-booked private hire transfer provides a direct journey between their address and Gatwick Airport.

London Airport Transfer provides pre-booked private hire journeys to and from Gatwick Airport, including both the North and South terminals.

When comparing airport-transfer prices, passengers should check whether airport access charges, parking and Meet & Greet costs are included or charged separately.

This is particularly important because drop-off and pickup are not the same operation.

Dropping passengers outside departures can take only a few minutes.

Collecting arriving passengers may require the driver to park and wait while the traveller passes through immigration and baggage reclaim.

Airport charges are therefore an unavoidable part of many professional transfer journeys rather than part of the driver's earnings.

Passengers being taken to Gatwick by friends or family have another choice.

They can pay the £5 terminal forecourt charge for up to 10 minutes, or use Gatwick's free Long Stay drop-off option and take the complimentary shuttle to the terminal.

Knowing about both options before setting off can make the journey to Gatwick cheaper — and considerably less confusing.

Written by London Airport Transfer for passengers travelling to and from London airports.