Airport News
Newcastle Airport defends reduced parking times
Mon, 09 Jun, 2008
Newcastle Airport has defended its decision to reduce its pick up and drop off parking time from ten to five minutes.
A spokesman said the airport has invested £200,000 in extra entry/exit barriers and parking bays to alleviate congestion in the car park.
He told local paper the News Guardian that the car park, which is designed for the "rapid collection" and drop off of passengers, offers a better service than many other airports.
"These improvements now allow vehicles to flow much more freely through the area, thus taking less time," he said.
"Detailed research indicates that, of the 1.5 million customers who use the pick up and drop off facility each year, more than 1.2 million will be able to leave ... within the five-minute free period."
But the owner of a north-east taxi company told the BBC that five minutes is not enough time and will therefore affect the quality of service offered by vehicle hire firms.