Airport car park charges soar by 260pc as summer holidays loom

AIRPORT car parking charges have risen as much as 260 per cent in a year as families prepare for the summer holidays.

The cost of a two-week car park stay at London Gatwick airport has risen from £95 to £355 over the past 12 months – a 260 per cent rise.

Car parking charges at all airports have almost doubled over the year on average, according to analysis of prices from Creditfix, a debt firm.

An average two-week stay in an airport car park has surged from £90 to more than £170 – an increase of 88 per cent, it found.

Creditfix compared June 2022 prices published by Evans Halshaw, a used-car sales service, with current prices, and found holidaymakers would spend £79 more on average on car parking over their annual holidays this summer.

Heathrow prices increased from £119.56 to £221, a rise of 85 per cent, it said. Other steep rises included Leeds

Bradford (up 215 per cent, from £68 to £214), Birmingham (up 200 per cent, from £58.49 to £175.43) and Glasgow (up 182 per cent, from £53.99 to £152.46). Manchester airport parking charges rose by 3 per cent in the same period, from £130.11 to £133.99.

The increases come as airports have been tackling huge financial losses incurred during the pandemic and are a further blow to families already facing surging costs for travel and accommodation abroad.

Flight prices in Europe have risen by 58 per cent compared to pre-pandemic levels, according to travel comparison site Omio.

Package holidays have also ballooned in price. A seven-night trip to Italy costs £757.53 per person on average, compared with £616.68 last year, according to consumer group Which?.

Airports also bill drivers for stopping at the kerb to let holidaymakers out. Only two – Cardiff and London City – allow free drop-offs. Belfast City introduced a £3 minimum charge this year, while Heathrow and Gatwick added £5 drop-off charges after the pandemic.

Layla Johnson, of Creditfix, said that families would need to “have a clear and honest view of their financial situation to understand what they can afford”.

A spokesman for Gatwick said its airport prices were “competitive with other airports”.