Call to end airport drop-off fees for blue badge holders

According to a disability charity, all UK airports should stop charging blue badge holders for being dropped off near terminals. Many people with blue badges contacted the BBC after learning that more than half of the busiest airports had raised the so-called kiss-and-fly prices to as much as £7 in some cases. Many airports already have discounts or waived the fee for disabled drivers, according to blue badge holders, but the scheme is complicated and inconsistent. Any airports have allowed greed to cloud their decision, according to Graham Footer, chief executive of Disabled Motoring UK, and people with disabilities should not have to pay the farewell.

Disabled customers should be treated with respect and dignity, not fleeced as soon as they arrive,

he said.

Free drop offs

The BBC contacted the 20 busiest airports in the United Kingdom to inform their policy on drop-off fees for blue badge holders. Drop-off charges for any form of passenger are not included in London City. A drop-off fee is levied against Gatwick, Edinburgh, Heathrow, Liverpool, John Lennon, and Manchester, but blue badge holders do not have to pay it. Blue badge holders are charged by Luton, Glasgow, Belfast International, Belfast City, East Midlands, Aberdeen, Aberdeen and Southampton, as well as other travelers for using the drop-off locations nearest to the airport. However, they do also provide separate free drop-off parking for blue badge holders elsewhere. This parking is only free for Glasgow and Aberdeen if blue badge holders are being dropped off by family or friends, not if they are dropped off via taxi. All airports have free drop-off services further from the terminals for all passengers, not just blue badge holders, such as park and ride facilities where people can park their car and ride a bus to the airport. Blue badge holders are charged for drop off, but others are able to stay longer than other passengers at a lower price. Bristol charges £7 for 40 minutes, Leeds Bradford £7 per 60 minutes, and Bournemouth charges £5 for four hours because disabled passengers

may require additional time. Only Cardiff, Newcastle, and Stansted charge the same fee with no discount at all. Cardiff charges are £3 for ten minutes, Newcastle charges £5 for zehn minutes, and Stansted is charged £7 for 15 minutes. The best accessible drop-off for blue badge holders, according to Airports UK, which represents the sector, is dependent on the airport's layout.

No one option is preferred at all airports, so to maximize access at each airport's terminal, the service would obviously be different," it said. Passengers were advised to check the airport's website before flying to find the correct drop-off location.

'You have to jump through hoops'

If a disabled driver shows their blue badge at the airport on the day, the majority of the airports that waive drop-off fees do so. However, for Heathrow and Liverpool, the waiver must be obtained online or by phone either before or after traveling. Heathrow claims that the online process for confirming blue badges can take five days to complete, though it told the BBC that it usually takes 48 hours. These services are impossible to use for James Williams, 67, of London.

I am a blue badge holder and I have to pay because I am not computer literate,

he says, adding that

you have to jump through hoops to get this discount. Jonathan Cassar, 51, of London, claims that online registration is complicated, and that

disabled people who have to be dropped at terminal cannot be prompt as others can. Heathrow said it had tried to make the blue badge registration process as simple as possible and that anyone who needs to register urgently should get it approved over the phone. Liverpool said it had online confirmation "to minimize abuse of the blue badge scheme.

'Not against principle'

Not all blue badge holders believe that being charged for airport drop off is unfair. Gordon Richardson, chair of the British Polio Fellowship Board, is a blue badge holder but says he is not against the idea of disabled people paying the same as non-disabled people. The most important, according to him, is that the space is both convenient and simple to use. He encourages blue badge holders to contact airports before flying so that the airports are able to assist them and ensure they get their discount or free parking. Many of the airports that were contacted by the BBC said their blue badge policies had been developed in consultation with disability organizations and with particular attention to their needs.