Manchester Airport's controversial drop-off charges could be reviewed by the government as part of a potential national investigation into the practice, following pressure from the House of Lords.
Current Charges at Manchester Airport
It currently costs £5.50 to drop someone off outside Manchester Airport's terminals for five minutes, £6.50 for 10 minutes, or £25 for half an hour. Motorists are charged using ANPR cameras and must pay online by the end of the next day after their visit. Although visitors can drop passengers off further away from the terminals free of charge and complete their journey to check-in on a shuttle bus, the charges have long been subject to debate, with former mayor Andy Burnham weighing in on them.
House of Lords Forces Review
Drivers' charges could be reviewed after Liberal Democrat and Conservative Lords refused to back the Civil Aviation (Consumer Protection and Regulatory Reform) Bill, sending it back to the House of Commons and forcing the government to conduct a review of the charges. Shadow transport minister Lord Moylan accused airports of raising passenger drop-off fees with 'great enthusiasm', insisting a review was needed to examine the impact on users.
Lord Moylan told the House of Lords on Monday that drop-off fees are particularly damaging for families, as well as older and disabled passengers, who 'do not have a realistic alternative to being dropped off at the terminal'. He said: “The Government has gone some way to improve protections for disabled passengers in aviation. But it’s no good strengthening rights inside the airport while supporting surface access policies that make it harder and more expensive for disabled passengers or those assisting them to get to the terminal in the first place.”
Criticism from Peers
Former UUP leader Lord Empey described the fees as 'out of control', arguing ministers need to step in. “The fundamental point is that this is now a revenue stream that didn’t exist a relatively short period of time ago,” he said. “It’s rapidly increasing, and it will continue to increase either because the airports feel it is a way of making money, or because some people think policies – that we force people away from the drop-off and onto public transport – that has its own advantages. But that only applies in limited cases, and it is certainly not universally spread around the country.”
Baroness Grender of the Liberal Democrats also offered her party’s support, saying airport users are captured and have no means of shopping around for cheaper parking.
Government Response
However, transport minister Lord Hendy insisted the fees are already subject to consumer protection law. He added the Civil Aviation Authority (CAA) has previously found 'insufficient evidence' to justify an investigation. He said: “Their arrangements are already subject to consumer protection law, competition law, and industry standards, with enforcement and redress where practices are misleading, unfair, or non-compliant. There are also established mechanisms to review airport drop-off charges where concerns arise, the CAA has already examined airport surface access, including competition, consumer issues, and the transparency of information options and charges, and found insufficient evidence to justify a competition or consumer law investigation.”
Broader Bill Provisions
The rest of the Bill will give ministers the power to set new rules around when aircraft can take off and land, what airlines have to do when someone’s luggage goes missing, and price transparency. It will also give authorities new powers to fine airlines which fail to look after disabled people.
