Belfast is Britain’s cheapest airport carpark – but has your closest runway made the top 10?
CAR PARKS can add an unexpected cost and extra stress to travelling, but certain airports could save you a penny.
Belfast has been crowned Britain’s cheapest airport car park according to a list of the UK’s 20 most crowded.
Most of the UK's busiest airports, such as London Heathrow, Birmingham and Manchester, don't make the top 10 - so travellers should be warned expensive car parks could add to the Easter chaos of huge queues.
At only £65 for a one-week stay, Belfast International is by far the more cost-efficient than London City, the most expensive, which charges £60 for just one day.
Belfast also ranks cheapest for one hour at the price of just a fiver, whereas London Stansted charges the most for the same amount of time - £18.
Even visitors popping into an airport can find themselves out of pocket, with every airport except two charging for a 15 minute drop off.
One holidaymaker was even caught out for driving the wrong way around Heathrow's car park.
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Charlotte Balfe was slapped with an £80 fine after accidentally driving through the airport's drop-off zone.
The mum-of-two paid £90 in advance to leave her car for a week, but on arrival was met by a barrage of signs and turnings.
Charlotte, from Woking, Surrey, accidentally turned into a zone which charges drivers to drop off passengers.
Drivers can be charged up to £10 at London Gatwick and London Luton for 15 minutes, while only Doncaster Sheffield and Newcastle International, which are both in the cheapest top 10, offer a drop off for free.
PARK AND FLY
Although Belfast came in as the cheapest airport car park, it did disappoint with its amount of electric vehicle chargers available. Alongside Doncaster Sheffield, London Stansted and London Southend, the airport has zero charging points. London Heathrow, however, has a whopping 38.
At all 20 airports, it is cheaper to book in advance. Alternatively, many airports can be accessed by public transport.
Another option is to park further away from the airport terminals, as car parks are usually cheaper in a less convenient location.
However, travellers should be warned of the driver who fell for an "illegitimate" airport car park.
The Ryanair customer paid to park his car with the firm before a holiday. John Paton, of Tyneside, bought his spot at Newcastle Airport in the days before he was due to head to Malaga with wife Sheila.
But when the couple arrived bright and early, staff at Looking4Parking failed to respond with their advertised 'meet and greet service' - and instead had no record of the booking.
John was then forced to fork out another £66.99 to park, even though he'd already paid
UK's top 10 cheapest airport car parks
- Belfast International Airport
- Cardiff Airport
- Glasgow Airport
- Southampton Airport
- Aberdeen Airport
- Doncaster Sheffield Airport
- Edinburgh Airport
- Newcastle Airport
- Liverpool Airport
- Leeds Bradford Airport
