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Anger at Leeds Bradford Airport parking charges
LEEDS Bradford Airport has become one of only a handful in the country to charge motorists for dropping off loved ones.
Anyone now wanting to to dispatch or collect travellers will have to pay a minimum £2 fee - no matter how brief their stop.
Previously drivers had the first 10 minutes free.
The so-called “kiss and fly tax” has sparked outrage.
Michael Norton, of Belle Isle private hire company All Aboard Travel, said he would have to add the charge to the cost of fares.
He said: “Hardly anywhere else does this.
“To charge £2 for the two minutes it takes to chuck people out is ridiculous.
“They couldn’t care less about customer service.”
Tony Arnett, of East Leeds company TT Travel, added: “I feel sorry for the passengers. This is just another excuse to make money out of them before they’re even on the plane.”
The ticketless system uses automatic number plate recognition cameras to film cars entering the short stay car park outside the terminal building.
A driver’s bill - which increases to £5 for over 30 minutes and £10 for over an hour - is calculated at the exit barrier.
Payment can be made with coins or cards.
Signs have been installed en route to the airport warning drivers of the new charges.
Primary school teacher Heather Field, of Yeadon, regularly takes her husband, Andrew, to the airport for business travel.
The 36-year-old insisted she would drop him off at the roadside outside the car park from now on - despite the risk of a ticket for stopping on double yellow lines.
She added: “With taxes and fuel prices, drivers are being penalised left, right and centre already.
“To go from charging nothing to £2 is a great hike.
“There has been no warning of this and I think a lot of people will be absolutely stunned.”
Drivers will be able to drop off and pick up passengers for free for an hour in the long stay car parks half a mile from the terminal.
A shuttle bus will run on a continuous loop to take them to and from the terminal.
Private hire car drivers can pay a £25 annual “subscription” to use the other short stay car park, below the one where the new charges apply.
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Comments
There are 15 comments to this article
Page 1 of 1
Tigbox
Sunday, October 16, 2011 at 09:16 PMLBA please note the law states(RTRA Section 5 & 8) regarding the off loading & the picking up of passengers on Double Yellow lines this permitted & legal. The fact that unloading lines are on the pavement edge refer to the loading & or unloading of goods not people. The other problem of the Double Yellow lines around the airport access roads is the fact they are not continuous, therefore they are not legal. Anyone who does park on the access roads is breaking the law but to stop to allow passenger to get out is legal, likewise to stop to pick up is legal.
airport parking
Sunday, July 17, 2011 at 02:21 PMI once parked on side of the road as you entered leeds airport but after 5 mins security moved us on. I actually have websites for parking at the airport, just been away for 10 days usually use sentinel but was full, so i used the long stay one instead,i booked for 2 cars and told the drivers what to do ie put debit credit card in machine, which was used to book online. when we came back from holidays we were asked to pay because they did not use cards but took ticket instead we actually paid £50 and few pence but the airport rates were £73 i was horrified that by booking online you would save up to £20 this is just to help and save money. My site www.airport-parking-fujr.co.uk
theenglishman
Wednesday, June 1, 2011 at 11:58 AMOver 65 years ago, fighter aircraft took of from this airfield, then known as RAF Yeadon, to fight against dictatorship. This is all this charge amounts to, YOU WILL DO AS WE SAY !!. Never mind about thecustomer. LBA is always, or so we are told, looking to the future for a more efficient ,customer friendly airport ? Hardly goes to help promote the effort does it ?? Come on LBA scrap the £2 charge whilst you still have some punters !!
Andrew Ogden
Saturday, May 28, 2011 at 06:53 PMMeant to say completely disagree abouit the additional routes!!!
Andrew Ogden
Saturday, May 28, 2011 at 06:52 PMThe charges at LBA are completely unsubstantiated and a further unavoidable charge for poor services. I completely agree that this allows the airport to provide more routes as almost all other airports manage more routes without any charges. Other than arriving by bus or an arrow taxi these charges are unavoidable - which does beg question as to the validty of the charges by the airport taxi firm that are already £5 to £6 more than other local providers per journey!! Is this a way to make the competition less fair by charging taxis and private cars £2. The opportunity to park one hour in the long stay car park isn't particularly helpful and makes no sense at all, LBA know that this is an inconvenient and not very well advertised alternative. This combined with the luggage trolleys, unavoidable shop, chargeable plastic bags, ands worlds slowest passport queues seem to add to the fun. Welcome to Yorkshire!!!!
thomas atcheson
Thursday, May 26, 2011 at 04:55 PMMy issue is the discriminatory nature of this charge. It's not practical for an elderly or disabled user to gain entry without having to pay. There is no choice. Money first, customers second.
Justin Keenan
Wednesday, May 25, 2011 at 04:53 PMUnavoidable charges like this just leave a bitter taste in the mouth of the consumer. It is pure profiteering by the airport because they have a captive market with little real alternative choice. This is not driven by market forces. To anyone who says that the airline has to make its profit from somewhere, well... Airports negotiate with the airlines for the fees that they are paid. These fees along with retail rents etc pay for the airports upkeep, renovation, expansion & profits. Unavoidable charges like this are just “plane” wrong!
LeedsLad
Tuesday, May 24, 2011 at 09:58 PMAt the end of the day, airports have to make money from somewhere because the airlines are paying them very little. The more you spend in the car park and the shops, the more chance you have of getting new airlines and new routes. That's just a fact of how it is these days. Doncaster might have free this and free that, but it has a handful of flights to choose from so, go figure. I can get to LBA in 15 minutes from home, so £2 is a small price to pay for the opportunity of getting flights from an airport near to home compared to the extra hassle and expense of getting to places like Manchester. My car does 40MPG and the fuel cost to drive to Manchester Airport and back is £25 these days...and parking isn't free there either.
djordan
Tuesday, May 24, 2011 at 08:55 PMThe facilities at LBA are as bad as at most Greek Island airports. Passenger facilities have no been improved since it was bought by the present owners. I dislike having to cross the M62 to Manchester but the hassle is more than worth it to avoid this tin pot airport
whirlygig
Tuesday, May 24, 2011 at 04:21 PMBTW The invoices can be safely ignored or used to light a fire, but too many people think they are official tickets and cough up the £60 for fear of having bailiffs knocking on the door. The operators should be arrested for obtaining money be deception.
whirlygig
Tuesday, May 24, 2011 at 04:17 PMIf you want to see where this will end Google 'unfair parking tickets at Luton airport' They have cameras which read numberplates and then send unenforceable invoices (except they call them parking charge notices) to the registered keeper of any vehicle which drops someone off on the approach road to the terminal - even if the vehicle has stopped in the queue of traffic waiting to enter the terminal car park! As soon as the sad old CCTV operator spots a passenger door open and someone get out an invoice is dispatched.
Lord Wot Wot
Tuesday, May 24, 2011 at 04:10 PMWhat absolute rot LBA are. It is bad enough to have to walk the 12 km from the drop off point as it is - You also have to pay a non refundable quid to get a trolley, then scramble it over the uneven, uncovered path to the terminal building, before "Relax and Shop" (i.e hand over your wallet whilst we laugh at you and give you last week;s cheese sandwich", in is what probably the most delapidated airport in the UK, followed by a further 1 km walk to the plane. Flying used to be a pleasure, nsomething to look forward to. Not at LBA - the new owners just want your money - no service in return. Thank you for adding another cost - unnessecary and greedy! I'm off to use Doncaster in future!
spikytyke
Tuesday, May 24, 2011 at 12:56 PMIt's just another con to favour the resident taxi drivers - who are more expensive than anyone else.
TheWraith
Tuesday, May 24, 2011 at 10:29 AMI'm with gingermick. Great Airport, better facilities.
gingermick
Tuesday, May 24, 2011 at 10:20 AMIts the only way this tin box airport can make any money, the public and costomers suffer, why, terminal buildings the same as 20 years ago, if you get 3 flights leaving round about the same time its like being in a football crowd, i now go from a lovely airport where the costomer comes first, Doncaster.
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