Belfast Airport plan for £1 pick-up charge met with anger

Thursday, 1st July 2010

From Wednesday, 7 July, Belfast International Airport will charge £1 for collecting or dropping off passengers at the airport. The Northern Ireland Consumer Council has lashed out at the announcement, calling the charge “unacceptable” and saying it will cause congestion.

The new charge will only allow drivers a maximum of ten minutes in which to drop off or pick up passengers in the airport’s new drop off zone. Aodhan O’Donnell, director of policy at the Northern Ireland Consumer Council, says the move is likely to lead to lead to greater numbers of drivers who park in lay-bys and along roadsides in areas surrounding the airport as they wait for arrivals and departures.

The airport said it had invested a lot of money in creating the drop off zone in line with government policy following the terrorist attack at Glasgow airport. An airport spokesman said it had also doubled the parking time allowed on the cheapest rate in the airport’s short-stay car park.

The Northern Ireland Consumer Council said it understood that the airport needed to act in line with government security guidelines but insisted the £1 fee was unfair.

← Delayed Ryanair passengers get water, chocolate from police
→ New access charge at Edinburgh airport has motorists fuming
↑ July 2010 news index

Compare Airport Parking & Hotels