Travellers rapairport over£5fee fordropoff

Bosses at Glasgow Airport have defended a move to charge people £5 to be dropped off at the Paisley transport hub.

The airport (above) has this week upped the fee from £4 to £5 but said it has increased the narrow pick-up window from 10 to 15 minutes.

Increases have been introduced across all time frames for those dropping off or picking people up.

The price jumps to £10 for those in the zone for up to 20 minutes and £15 for those waiting up to 30 minutes.

The cost rockets to £30 for those waiting between 30 minutes and an hour.

Before the pandemic, the drop off zone charged £2 for every car passing through the dedicated area.

However this jumped to £4 for 10 minutes when the airport reopened to travellers following the Covid-19 lockdown.

A spokesman for AGS Airports, which owns and operates Glasgow Airport, said the increase was justified. He said: “As part of an ongoing review of our parking charges, passengers using the dedicated pick-up and drop-off facility will now pay £5 for an increased time period of 15 minutes.

“A free 30-minute period in our short stay car park will remain in place for Blue Badge holders and we will also continue to offer a free 30-minute option at our Long-Stay Car Park, which we would encourage people to use.”

He added: “The funds generated through our parking services will go towards improving facilities.”

The move sparked astonishment on social media as Buddies vowed to use neighbouring businesses as drop off points.

One traveller wrote on Facebook: “This is another easy cash cow. The pleasure of meeting and greeting friends and family taken away by greed again.”

A second person said: “I would get dropped off on the main road and walk the rest rather than give them £5 just to be dropped off, while another suggested the nearby BP garage would be mobbed by folk unwilling to fork out a fiver.