UK airports are charging more for drop offs than flights – but you can avoid the fees
Some airports are even charging penalty fees up to £25 for staying over ten minutes
AIRPORTS are now charging more for passengers to be dropped off than what they might have paid for flights.
New research has found that some passengers are even handed hefty fines if they overstay in the drop off area by a few minutes.
One of the most expensive is Manchester Airport, which removed their free "kiss and fly" zones last March.
It charges £4 for up to ten minutes if you want to be dropped off right outside the terminal - you can't come back within 30 minutes, and there's a strict £25 fine if you go over ten minutes.
London Stansted Airport has similar charges, starting from £4 to stay for ten minutes, before charging £25 if passengers stay for 15 minutes.
Luton Airport charges drivers £3 for ten minutes' drop off time in its drop-off and pick-up area closest to the terminal but this rises by £1 per minute after this, totalling £23 for half an hour.
Another airport unpopular with drivers is Birmingham Airport, which charges £3 for the first 15 minutes, with the maximum charge £18 for 30 minutes.
But with flights now costing as little as £2.99 one way, it's no wonder customers are taking to social media to complain.
But in fact, many airports offer a cheap or free alternative.
For example, London Luton Airport offers two hours of free parking in its long-stay car park - but passengers will have to get a shuttle bus from the car park to the terminal door.
Stansted also has a free option but this is located in its mid-stay car park, which is also a shuttle bus away from the terminal.
Birmingham Airport does have free drop off areas in its Drop Off Car Park for up to 30 minutes, but this car park is a five to ten minute walk from the terminal.
Some airports have a free drop off for up to ten minutes.
These are Cardiff, Inverness and Norwich, which don't charge anything for the first ten minutes to drop people off or pick them up.
London Gatwick, London Heathrow and London City allow ten minutes to drop off for free, but does not allow people to be collected.
Here, Sun Online Travel reveal the full list of airports that have drop-off costs and where you can go so you don't have to pay a penny:
Aberdeen: Pay £2 for up to ten minutes outside the main terminal, increasing to £30 for one hour.
Drop off free for 15 minutes in long stay car park, which has a free shuttle bus to the terminal.
Belfast International: Pay £1 for up to ten minutes, or £35 for anything over an hour.
Drop off free for 15 minutes in long stay car park, with a six minute walk to the terminal.
Birmingham: Pay £3 for the first 15 minutes to drop off outside the terminal
Free drop-off car park for 30 minutes, with a five to ten minute walk.
Bournemouth: Pay £35 for the first 30 minutes to drop off outside the terminal.
No free option.
Bristol: Pay £1 outside the main terminal if you stay for less than ten minutes, or £6 for up to an hour.
No free option.
Doncaster Sheffield: Drop off outside the terminal costs £3 up to 15 minutes or £12 up to two hours.
Short stay car park is free for 15 minutes and just a few minutes' walk from departures.
Glasgow: £2 for up to 15 minutes, or £45 for an hour.
Long stay car park free for dropping off for up to 30 minutes with a shuttle bus to the terminal.
Glasgow Prestwick: Drop off costs £2 for 30 minutes.
No free option.
East Midlands: Costs £2 for first five minutes, with £1 for every minute after.
Free parking for one hour in the "long stay one" car park, just five minutes by bus.
Edinburgh: Costs £2 for the first five minutes, with the maximum one hour costing £15.
Long stay car park is free for the first ten minutes with a shuttle bus.
Exeter: Costs £1 for first 30 minutes
Free ten minutes in Car Park 4 with a shuttle bus to the airport.
Leeds Bradford: Drop off outside the terminal costs £3 for the first 30 minutes, costing up to £9 for the first hour.
One hour free parking, which is less than four minute walk from the terminal.
Liverpool: Pay £3 up to 20 minutes to drop off outside the terminal.
There's a drop off car park a ten minute walk from the terminal which is free for 40 minutes.
Luton: Up to 10 minutes costs £3, costing £1 for every minute extra.
Free drop off in its mid-term car park, a five minute bus ride from the terminal.
Stansted: Drop off costs £4 for ten minutes or £25 over 15 minutes.
An hour's free parking in its mid-stay car park. Then there's a free shuttle bus to the terminal which takes five minutes.
Manchester: One of the most expensive, it is £4 for the first ten minutes and £25 fee for exceeding this.
To beat the charges, there's a free drop-off area with a free shuttle bus to the terminal.
Newcastle: Costs £2 for the first ten minutes, or £7 for up to an hour.
Free parking at the "short stay two" car park for 15 minutes, a two minute walk from the terminal.
Southampton: Pay £2 for the first 15 minutes.
Half an hour free parking at the long stay car park, with a free shuttle bus that takes five minutes to the terminal.
A spokesperson for Luton Airport told Sun Online Travel: "We offer passengers a choice for picking up and dropping off, including two hours free parking in our long-stay car park and 15 minutes free in mid-stay, both of which include a free shuttle bus to the terminal door
"Our charges for those wishing to drop-off or pick-up closer to the terminal reflect the need to manage a busy area with a limited amount of space."
They continued: "98 per cent of those using our drop-off/pick- up area do so within ten minutes, without incurring additional charges."
A spokesperson for Birmingham Airport told Sun Online Travel: "We offer many options for our customers to choose from when being dropped or collected from the airport.
"A recent multi million pound investment within parking facilities has resulted in the creation of a new free drop off facility providing free drop off parking for up to 30 minutes.
";This new facility is connected to the terminal by a covered walkway and is just a 10 minute walk or transfer to the terminal.
"However those passengers that choose to be dropped immediately adjacent to the terminal a new premium set down facility provides this option for £2 for 10 minutes.
"Payment by card on exit also means customers do not even need to leave the car to make payment making the facility a fast and easy process to drop passengers.
"It is recommended for picking up passengers our undercover short stay car parks are utilised as these provide an hours parking at £5.10 per hour.
"For longer stays it is advised to pre-book to ensure available spaces and choice across short and long stay products and best available rates."
A spokesperson for Stansted told Sun Online Travel: "The drop off charge is £4 for ten minutes.
"There is also a free option at the mid stay car park with a courtesy bus just drops passengers off on the terminal forecourt.
"Less than 1 per cent of all Express Set Down users exit the area in over 15 minutes."
A spokesperson for Gatwick said: "Unlike many airports Gatwick does not charge to drop off passengers.
"We also offer a range of parking options for people looking to pick up passengers, including 2 hours free parking in our long stay car parks or, if passengers wish to park closer to the terminal, up to 30 minutes in our short stay car park for £4."
However, if you find yourself with a parking fine at the airport, you may not have to pay it.
Many airport parking firms are now private, meaning there is a better chance of avoiding the tickets, with them reluctant to chase the fine through small claims court.
Sun Online previously revealed the holidaymakers who returned home to find out a car parking firm had shut down - leaving hundreds of car keys dumped in a sports bag at the airport information desk.