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.
09 April 2014
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.
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.
28 February 2014
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
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
27 February 2014
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:
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:
- One way to find a legitimate, reputable company is to look for an Approved Operator scheme, such as the one operating at Gatwick
- Another is to look for the Safer Parking ParkMark award - a police initiative
- Or look for Trading Standards Buy With Confidence accreditation.
05 February 2014
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
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
13 January 2014
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
09 January 2014
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?
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?
19 December 2013
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:
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.
18 December 2013
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.
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.
12 December 2013
Southend car park to fight closure
Independent airport parking company, Southend Airport Car Park has been ordered to close its 200-space car park after the local council issued an enforcement notice, the Echo reports.
The company, which has been operating from the site since June 2012, does not have planning permission for the car park on Temple Farm Industrial Estate.
Southend Airport Car Park has appealed the decision and an inspector will now decide whether the council’s enforcement notice is valid.
The company, which has been operating from the site since June 2012, does not have planning permission for the car park on Temple Farm Industrial Estate.
Southend Airport Car Park has appealed the decision and an inspector will now decide whether the council’s enforcement notice is valid.
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