Bournemouth Airport to introduce £2.50 drop off charge

07.04.11

Bournemouth Airport is to introduce a £2.50 drop-off and pick-up charge, the BBC reports. At present, vehicles can park for free in the airport's short stay car park for up to 10 minutes, with a £2.50 charge applied for a stay of between 10 and 30 minutes. But from 14 April all vehicles using the car park will be charged £2.50 for up to 30 minutes.

Signs informing drivers of the changes will be put up in prominent places and travel agents have been asked to inform passengers in advance. A team of marshals will assist drivers when the charges first come into force at the barrier-operated car park, the airport said.

The move comes after a new £45m departures terminal designed to cope with 3 million passengers a year opened at Bournemouth in June 2010. However, during most of the winter only one flight a day left the airport, after Ryanair cancelled all flights for 3 months and other airlines pulled out.

Rob Goldsmith, the airport's managing director, said most passengers left their cars at the airport's long stay car park while they were away, paying parking charges ‘among the cheapest in England’. He said: 'We know that some people will be disappointed by this change. We hope they will understand that this is a commercial decision brought about by the recession and the subsequent downturn in the aviation industry.’

A number of other UK airports have introduced a drop-off charge, although £2.50 is at the top end of the scale even for those. Luton, Edinburgh, East Midlands and Newcastle all charge £1, for example.

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