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.”

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/

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.

Eton Air ceases trading

November 2008: Heathrow corporate parking supplier Eton Air closed its doors this month after more than 10 years of dedicated service to the corporate parking industry.

Help-me-park is proud to be able to offer corporate airport parking services to all customers of Eton Air who now need a new supplier that is conscientious, experienced and reliable for airport parking at Gatwick and Heathrow airports.

The Help-me-park sales team can be reached on 0845 272 8790, or visit www.help-me-park.co.uk for more information.

How to save money on airport parking

The options for airport parking are huge, and choice often comes down to preference and budget, but if you want to save money when booking your airport parking the number one rule is to book early.

Yes, there are a huge number of parking spaces at every airport, but don’t forget you aren’t the only one flying and as departure day gets closer, particularly during peak holiday periods, you could find your choice of parking options reduced and, as the number of bays decrease, the prices often rise – it’s the old rule of ‘supply and demand’!

So get in to the habit of booking your airport parking when you book your flights and you could find yourself saving loads of money.