As airlines and airports seemingly are running out of new fees to charge, Luton Airport near London has hit on a new idea: charge people who aren’t even flying.
The new charge, starting April 29, is not a huge one for now, just one pound, (about $1.50 for drivers who drop passengers off at the curb. For that fee, they will also be able to remain in the area for up to ten minutes — time to unload a lot of luggage, and say a lot of good-byes. The fee will be collected when drivers exit the drop-off area.
For drivers who don’t want to pay, they can park for free in a nearby lot, where there is a free shuttle to the airport. Presumably they can either accompany their passengers to the airport, or say goodbye at the shuttle stop.
In typical airline and airport-speak, Nic Horton, an Luton spokesman said
Dropping passengers off can be a stressful experience, we have therefore given careful consideration to providing the right facilities and enough time for people to unload in a secure environment.
Making a small charge reminds drivers of the 10-minute time allocation and keeps the traffic flowing.
By offering a choice of options we can provide an airport experience to suit the needs of all our passengers.
Notice this is never about their making more money, it is always about our choices. And it will certainly suit the needs better of passengers who can easily afford the fee, which if successful, is likely to be increased.
The company that runs Luton also runs Cardiff airport in Wales, and Belfast in Northern Ireland, neither of which has adopted the drop-off fee at this time.
Luton Airport, by the way, also charges passengers one pound if they forget their plastic bag for security — yes, that’s a one pound charge for a bag. Wonder what they will think of next to “suit the needs of all our passengers?”
{ 6 comments… read them below or add one }
Ridiculous! I imagine at some point they’ll start doling out “drop off” tickets so that when you’re leaving, you’ll have to run it through a meter and if you’re over your allotted 10 minutes, they’ll charge you extra.
There’s nothing new about this. DFW charges a $1 toll (for up to 30 minutes) to enter or leave the airport. The remote parking and rental car area are both outside the toll area (and you can take shuttles to those), but if you’re driving to the airport to drop someone off or pick someone up, you have to pay the fee to go to the terminals.
The ABSURDITY here is MIN-BOGGLING!!!!!
Listen up Luton Airport “Authority”, before you continue further with this FARCE, take a long hard look at what’s happening with the BAA.
MANY of us “frequent fliers” are bypassing transiting ANY UK Airport these days because of the ever-increasing HASSLES. Now you have the audacity to CHARGE us for these “hassles”????? I don’t think so!
Fortunately for most of us, Luton is not a place we usually frequent. Most traffic from Luton is originating on low cost carriers and charter flights. (The most affected will be Monarch and Ryanair Passengers).
The BAA are in deep financial trouble, and that’s because trans-atlantic traffic is bypassing London altogether, in favor of more streamlined connections in Frankfurt or Munich. (Not to mention a more pleasant Customer Service experience). The time of nickel and diming “Joe the Traveller” is over!!!
Enough already!!! You are biting the hands that feed you! STOP already!!!!
Clearly, the “inmates are NOW running the Asylum”……
SHEEEEESH………
We’re charged when we park in the garage, at the Syracuse, NY airport.
Staying w/a passenger long enough to hug them goodbye, can accumulate a rather large bill.
And Britain does not even require that you limit carry on fluids any longer – why bother with a baggie unless you are coming to the US which still somehow thinks that limiting each person to a quart of fluid makes the world safe for Americans.
Britain still has their no-liquid ban in effect. Reports indicate that changes to the policy will come in the next 6-12 months. From the Times of London:
A senior Whitehall source said that the ban would be lifted at a limited number of airports, possibly as soon as this autumn.
“The restrictions will start to be removed in six months to a year’s time and passengers will be allowed to carry any size of bottle they like inside their hand luggage, just as they were before the summer of 2006,” the source said.
“Airports will have to demonstrate that they have invested in the technology, so it will not be a blanket lifting of the restrictions.” He said that a BAA airport would be involved in the trial because the company had already installed advanced threat identification X-ray machines.
These machines, costing more than £100,000 each, have the capacity, after a software upgrade, to distinguish between harmless liquids and potentially explosive ones.
Philip Baum, the editor of Aviation Security magazine, said that a selective lifting of the liquids ban would add to the widespread confusion among passengers about different security requirements in different countries.
“We need much greater harmonisation of security procedures and any changes will have to be communicated very carefully to passengers. People may hear the ban has been lifted and wrongly assume it applies to their airport.”