Improvements made to Leeds Airport parking

Leeds Bradford Airport has invested £1.2m to revamp its airport parking.

In addition to an extra 500 parking spaces, new larger shuttle buses will operate between the car park and the terminal building.

Improvement work to the terminal forecourt layout means that passengers will now be dropped off right outside the terminal building and a reworked layout will see journey times between the car park and the terminal shortened.

John Parkin, Chief Executive of Leeds Bradford Airport, said:“I’m delighted to announce additional investment in Leeds Bradford Airport’s facilities today”.

“This range of developments will be welcomed by our passengers, offering a more efficient service and an improved customer journey by introducing new car park buses to deliver passengers right to the terminal doors and simplifying the process to security.

“Leeds Bradford Airport has experienced record growth in recent years, it is important that we continually deliver airport improvements to accommodate that growth and provide the best experience for our passengers.”

APCOA secures Park Mark® award at Luton Airport

When you're looking to book airport parking, it's always advisable to book with a company that has gained ParkMark status for its car park.

APCOA Parking (UK) Limited has just announced it has secured the coveted Park Mark® Safer Parking Award for its official airport car parks at London Luton Airport.

The Safer Parking Scheme is an initiative of the Association of Chief Police Officers (ACPO), Police Scotland and the Police Service of Northern Ireland, aimed at reducing crime and the fear of crime in parking areas.

Managed by the British Parking Association (BPA), the Safer Parking Scheme, awards the Park Mark® to facilities that have measures in place to create a safe environment.

Police Accredited Assessors undertake a site specific risk assessment. They assess the management and maintenance of the facility and check that there are appropriate levels of surveillance, lighting, signage and cleanliness, thereby reducing the opportunity for crime.

Peter Gravells, Park Mark® Scheme Area Manager, says, “We are delighted that APCOA has achieved the Park Mark® Award, it means it is delivering a safer environment for those using the car parks at London Luton. It is a fantastic achievement and testament to the effective management and high car parking standards maintained by the company.”

There are currently 5000 car parks with the Park Mark® Award throughout the UK.

Belfast Airport parking company ordered to cease trading

A long-running battle between Karl Airport Parking and Belfast International Airport looks like it is finally coming to an end.

Karl Airport Parking’s 1,200-space car park in Old Ballyrobin Road in Mucka-more has been ordered to close by 31 August 2014.

In May 2013, the Planning Appeals Commission ordered Karl to cease trading, but the company appealed the decision and the cease trading order was quashed. However, a fresh appeal has resulted in the order to close at the end of the peak season.

For more information on the long-running issues between Karl and Belfast International check out the Irish News.

New car park for Stansted Airport

Stansted Airport is to get a new 300-space short-stay car park after airport bosses decided to reintroduce passenger drop offs outside the main terminal building.

The change was reintroduced last Thursday, 3 July, however, it’s not all good news as drivers will still need to pay £2 to use the Express Set Down Zone. The old Express Set Down Zone, which was located beneath the airport’s main forecourt will be converted into a 300-space short-stay car park.

A new forecourt layout will be zoned using electronic signage to guide drivers to the next available space to ease traffic flow will be introduced on 16 July.

The introduction of Automatic number plate recognition (ANPR) technology will mean that a ticketless system will operate with eight exit lanes taking cash and card payment.

Which? tests airport valet parking

Research by Which? magazine has highlighted the problems of booking with some airport meet and greet parking companies.

Following complaints received from some users, Which? decided to test three meet and greet parking companies at Gatwick, Heathrow and Stansted airports.

Three Which? cars were fitted with GPS trackers and were tracked over a period of six days. Their findings were disappointing:

• Meteor Meet and Greet at Stansted drove the car at nearly 100mph immediately after leaving the terminal
• iPark Airport Parking at Heathrow was recorded driving at close to 90mph 
• RS09 in Gatwick parked the Which? car in a car park on an industrial estate. 

At Gatwick Airport moves have been made to address the poor standards of some meet and greet parking companies by the introduction of the airport’s Approved Operator Scheme.

Gatwick advises that passengers should only book parking with one of their approved operators – a list of which can be found here: http://www.gatwickairport.com/parking/other-parking-options/Operator-Scheme/

West Sussex Trading Standards warns about meet and greet parking

Always read the small print when booking meet and greet parking, that’s the advice from West Sussex Trading Standards (WSTS) after it received complaints from holidaymakers.

Complaints included excess mileage added to a car’s odometer and thefts from cars. The advice coming from Trading Standards includes:

• Check the company websites and make sure you know who you are dealing with. Legally, companies need to provide their name and address details on websites. If contact address details are missing, be extra cautious and consider booking with a different provider. 
 
• If the cost of the booking is more than £100, consider paying with a credit card as this will give you extra protection should things go wrong.
 
• Most reputable companies will complete paperwork highlighting any damage to the vehicle at the time you drop it off. Trading Standards advise customers to take pictures of all 4 sides of their vehicle when they drop it off to help avoid any disputes regarding damage to your vehicle when you return from holiday. 
 
• The majority of meet and greet companies will have parking facilities which are relatively close to the airport. Make a note of the mileage reading on your car when you drop it off, that way you will know whether or not it has been driven further than you expected. 
 
• Lastly, do not leave any valuables or money in your vehicle whilst you are on your travels. 

The main advice from WSTS is to use the official airport car parking facilities or use a 'meet and greet' service that is 'Buy With Confidence' trading standards approved business.

West Sussex Trading Standards operates the Buy With Confidence scheme (BWC), a trade approval scheme, where all members are vetted and approved by the service. In relation to meet and greet companies, BWC means that their parking compounds have been checked and are all secure.

To find Gatwick meet and greet parking companies that hold the Buy With Confidence accreditation click on the link.

Or look for Gatwick Approved Operators.

Robot Ray - the future of airport parking?

Imagine just driving up to the airport and instead of parking your car or handing the keys over to a meet and greet driver, you leave your car with a robot.

Sounds like science fiction?

No it’s not, it’s actually happening at Düsseldorf Airport. Robot Ray is a parking system that claims to be able to park 60% more cars in an area than that of a human being.

How does it work?

Robot Ray scoops up a vehicle using a fork under each wheel and then transports it to a parking slot selected by Ray’s software, based on the car’s dimensions. Robot Ray has four wheels that can turn a full 360-degrees, allowing it to manoeuvre into extremely tight spaces.

Watch this video before booking your meet and greet

About to book meet and greet parking at Gatwick? Don't, not until after you've watched this video. It could save you a lot of time, money and hassle:

Save bundles of time with meet and greet parking

I know meet and greet parking is convenient, in fact, it's probably the most convenient type of airport parking there is.

I guess I've always known it saves time, but I, like many, probably don't really think about the parking in terms of how much time I save.

It's more about avoiding the hassle of jumping on a shuttle bus between the car park and the airport, however, even I've been surprised by the of the amount of time it can save.

Gatwick meet and greet parking company Help Me Park recently conducted research into the amount of time required for the different parking options at Gatwick.

Take a look, I'm sure you'll be surprised and maybe consider time as well as price next time you book your parking:

	Meet and Greet	Park and Ride	Long Stay
Transfer time from car park to airport	None – car collected from outside the terminal	Transfer time 10 – 15 minutes Transfers operate every 20 minutes	5 minutes Transfers operate every 10 minutes
Transfer time from airport to car park	None – car returned to outside the terminal	Transfer time 10 – 15 minutes Transfers operate every 20 minutes	5 minutes Transfers operate every 10 minutes
Maximum time spent on transfers	None	1 hour – 1 hour 10 minutes	30 minutes

Help Me Park is one of only eight Gatwick Approved Operators - the only meet and greet parking companies permitted to collect and return cars to the airport’s forecourts.

EPS Gatwick fined for false claims

A Gatwick valet parking company has hit headlines this week after it was found guilty of false claims about its business, including claiming it was a Gatwick Approved Operator and was a member of West Sussex County Council’s Buy with Confidence scheme.

EPS Parking was found guilty of breaching the Unfair Trading Regulations Act 2008 last Friday, 16 May, and fined £10,000 plus costs of £2,683, which were awarded to West Sussex County Council.

Lionel Barnard, West Sussex County Council’s Cabinet Member for Residents’ Services with responsibility for Trading Standards, said: “I hope this sends a clear message that we will always act against people who claim to be part of the Buy With Confidence scheme who aren’t.

“The scheme exists precisely to protect people against this sort of underhand action and I am pleased that the magistrates on Friday saw fit to issue such a large fine.

“We would always encourage people to check the Buy With Confidence scheme to source reputable traders in the knowledge they have already been checked and vetted by us.”

A list of Gatwick Approved Operators 

Gatwick parking companies holding ParkMark status

BBC Watchdog and why you need Gatwick Approved Operators for your meet and greet

If every you needed a reminder to use a Gatwick Approved Operator for meet and greet parking at Gatwick Airport, it's this programme: http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/p01z38r2

BBC's Watchdog programme highlights problems with non-approved Gold Parking at Gatwick. Problems include 1,500 miles extra on the clock, parking fines and a stolen Mercedes - stolen from the company's "secure" car park!

Watchdog conducted three test parking bookings, none of the cars used were parked in a secure car park, in fact, only one was parked in a car park, and this was far from secure.

Take a look at the programme here:

http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/p01z38r2

Man accused of almost £500,000 Gatwick parking theft

A former employee of APCOA has appeared in court accused of stealing almost £500,000 from his employer.

The alleged theft took place between August 2010 and November 2012 from the APCOA Administration Building at Gatwick Airport.

Ghazala Ashraf appeared at Crawley Magistrates' Court last Wednesday and entered no plea to the charges of theft by employee and concealing and transferring criminal property.

A preliminary hearing will take place on 2 May at Lewes Crown Court.

ASA raps Holiday Extras for parking discount claims

The most expensive way to book airport parking is to just turn up on the day of your flight and pay the gate price. It’s something most of us are aware of, but now Holiday Extras has had a rap on the knuckles for letting customers know about it.

Holiday Extras, which sells holiday add-ons, has been slammed by the Advertising Standards Authority (ASA) for discount claims made in an email, Travelmole reports.

The email claims customers can save up to 60% on the gate price, however, the ASA said at five airports where parking prices could be compared, no customer had saved 60%, although it did acknowledge that, taken as a whole, 17% of customers had saved 60% or more in the period covered.

Could airport parking wholesalers be held liable for selling unauthorised parking?

There's an interesting article on the AVPCA website examining whether a meet and greet parking wholesaler could be held responsible for damages if it sells parking with a company that turns out to be unauthorised and something goes wrong.

The article questions whether the reseller could be held liable if it didn't carry out proper checks to ensure that the company whose parking it was selling was using licensed car parks and had adequate insurance etc.

It's an interesting angle that probably poses as many questions as it answers, but also raises a lot of questions for meet and greet parking wholesalers.

Definitely worth a read here: AVPCA - Vicarious Liability for Unlawful Actions

3 Ways to find a reputable meet and greet parking company

Meet and greet parking is probably the most convenient type of airport parking so it's hardly surprising that it has seen a significant increase in popularity over recent years.

This increase in demand has meant that there are more and more companies offering the service. Unfortunately, not all these companies are operating legitimately from licensed car parks, some, as we've seen in TV programmes, use unlicensed car parks, residential streets, supermarket car parks or just at the side of the road.

It can be difficult finding reputable companies when all you have to judge a company on is a fancy website.

Here are three ways to help you sort the good guys from the bad:

1. One way to find a legitimate, reputable company is to look for an Approved Operator scheme, such as the one operating at Gatwick
2. Another is to look for the Safer Parking ParkMark award - a police initiative
3. Or look for Trading Standards Buy With Confidence accreditation.

Cashless parking trial

While this is not airport parking, it's definitely worth a mention.

Tamworth Council is trialling a new cashless parking scheme which will allow drivers to pay with their mobile phones.

The trial, which will last 18 months, will be cover all the council's nine car parks.

In order to pay by phone, motorists will be able to pay for their parking in advance and will receive a text confirmation that their parking is booked, and also a reminder when their paid-for parking time is about to expire.

Don't panic if your phone isn't set up to pay for parking, you'll still be able to use the pay and display machines.

If the trial is successful, it could become a permanent feature.

What do you think about paying in advance for your parking by mobile phone, would you do it, and could you see its use being extended to airport parking?

For more information check out the Tamworth Herald

Heathrow top for airport parking charges

It costs more to park your car for one to two hours in the short stay car park at Heathrow Airport's Terminal 4 than it does at any other airport in the World.

A two-hour stay during peak morning and evening periods costs £12 - £8.35 more than at New York's JFK.

A one to two-hour stay, off peak, still costs a hefty £10, while a 24-hour stay will set you back £53.90 - more than the cost of some budget flights!

The astronomical prices were highlighted by a recent investigation by the Sunday Mirror

Mobile phone app to park your car

It may seem a bit far-fetched but Bosch is developing a mobile phone app that could soon be parking your car!

Well, I guess, there's a phone app for most things these days so why not one to park your car?

It's not just a phone app, you would need to add parking sensors to your car too.

According to Bosch, the technology won't be available until 2015:

I'm not sure I would trust a mobile phone app to park my car and I'd be worried about cars being parked next to mine using the app too.

How about you? Would you trust a mobile phone app to park your car?

Avoid Gatwick Christmas rail chaos with meet and greet parking

Gatwick Airport is expecting its busiest ever Christmas this year with around 2 million people expected to pass through the airport from 13 December until 5 January 2014.

As expected at this time of year, the road and rail networks will be extra busy too. As well as extra people, rail passengers should expect delays, lots of delays, cancellations and bus travel!

Yes, due to engineering works, the Gatwick Express service has been cancelled and rail-replacement buses will be operating on part of the service from London Victoria Station to Gatwick Airport.

Instead of direct services between Victoria Station and Gatwick, which take around 30 minutes, passenger travelling to the airport will travel to East Grinstead, change to a bus, which will then take them to Gatwick - a journey, which Southern expects to take 90 minutes!

Avoid the hassle of trying to get to and from Gatwick Airport by train this Christmas and book Gatwick meet and greet parking - probably the most convenient type of airport parking.

By booking meet and greet you'll avoid:

• 90-minute journeys to and from Gatwick
• parking your own car - you just hand your keys to a driver waiting at the airport
• any extra time spent travelling to an off-airport car park and the shuttle bus journey to the airport.

And the best bit...you'll be in your car, driving home before your fellow passengers have found their car in the car park, or have got on the bus home!

Newquay Airport introduces free 10-minute stay for passenger drop off

A controversial decision to charge car owners to drop passengers off at Newquay Airport will be scrapped next Monday, 23 December just nine months after it was introduced.

Up until March this year, drivers had a maximum of 15 minutes to drop passengers off in the airport car park before being charged a fee of £1.

From Monday, drivers will be permitted to stop for 10-minutes free of charge, after which a £1 charge will be made for the first 30 minutes.

A full list of Newquay Airport car park charges, applicable from Monday, can be seen by clicking on the link.