East Midlands Airport parking upgrade means £1 drop off charge
07.07.10
The major redevelopment of the short-stay car park at East Midlands Airport will be completed this week. The car park has been reconfigured into five zones, including areas for blue badge holders, short stay, car hire and the reintroduction of a dedicated passenger drop-off area. As part of the redevelopment, passengers using the new rapid drop-off zone, close to the terminal, will be charged £1 for up to 10 minutes.
The airport has said that the redesign features responses to customer feedback and it hopes the new layout will significantly improve the traffic flow at peak times. And an automatic number plate recognition system has been installed so pre-booked cars can enter and exit the car park.
It adds that the extra time needed in the car park when customers are collecting passengers has also been taken into account. For this reason, the 10-minute free parking option in the short-stay car park has been replaced with an extended period of an hour of free parking in the long-stay car park and a complimentary bus journey between the car park and the terminal.
Some might suggest that moving the pick up car park further away and adding a bus transfer is a cynical ploy to boost revenue from short stay parking, as most people collecting passengers will automatically head for the short term parking, and will no longer benefit from any free period. This seems to be a move being made by most UK airports at this time.
Another element of the redevelopment is the introduction of a new car park operator, APCOA Parking (UK) Ltd, who will manage the coaching and car parking operation at the Airport. APCOA operate on site parking at Heathrow, Gatwick, Luton, Edinburgh, Aberdeen and Exeter Airports.
Add to: del.icio.us | Digg it | Newsvine | NowPublic | Reddit
To book east midlands airport hotel or east midlands airport car park at the lowest price, click on these links to two great east midlands airport car parking and east midlands airport hotel price comparison pages.
