New parking charges for airport drop-offs introduced

New parking charges have gone live at Manchester Airport.

The 'congestion charge' means that the previously free 'kiss and fly' drop off zones outside the terminals will now cost £3 for five minutes, or £4 for 10.

The Airport has rejected claims the charges are a money-making scheme, saying it is about tackling congestion.

Andrew Cowan, CEO of Manchester Airport, said:

"You call it a drop off charge, and I guess that's what it is, but what we call it is 'forecourt management'. As we've continued to grow, our forecourts have got more and more congested, so this is about managing our forecourts more and more efficiently for everyone who uses our forecourts.

"We've put special arrangements in for people with reduced mobility so they're still able to drop off on the forecourt, and we expect that to work well for them.

"We do still have a free drop off option, that will enable passengers to be dropped off free of charge - it will involve a short shuttle bus to whichever terminal they want to go to. We expect that to have a positive impact.

"If we don't introduce this and we don't manage our forecourts efficiently we could get to a point where the roads grind to a halt, so it's really important we do this for people who use the airport for years to come."

Passengers are able to get the shuttle bus from the nearby Jet Parks One car park, with two services every 15 minutes.