John Lennon Airport

The cost to drop friends and family off at the airport this summer has increased by a third at most airports across the UK – with some short stays costing a whopping £10

Dropping off family and friends at the airport this summer will cost you even more as new research has found that fees have increased by a third over the last year.

It was found that 16 out of 20 airports analysed had increased or introduced so-called “kiss and fly” fees since last summer, according to the RAC.

Some airports are now charging as much as £10 just to stop outside the terminal for a few minutes.

The most costly airports are still Gatwick and Stansted, with terminal drop-offs costing £10 at both.

The bigger shock comes as the only major airport that offered free terminal drop-offs, London City, now has one of the costliest fees charged on a per-minute basis.

Drivers dropping off relatives at London City are now charged £8 for five minutes, making it the highest charge per minute among airports included in the research.

The next most expensive drop off zones are outside of England’s capital.

One is in Scotland, as Edinburgh charges £8.50 for up to 10 minutes. Bristol also charges the same fees.

The RAC noted the average cost of airport drop-off fees has increased by around a third over the past year, despite many of the world’s busiest airports continuing to offer free terminal drop-offs.

The organisation highlighted that none of the busiest airports in the European Union charge drivers for dropping passengers off outside terminals.

In some of the world’s busiest hubs, including Dubai, these fees also do not exist.

Most UK airports do have alternative options that are free, however these are usually located in mid or long-stay car parks, with passengers needing to catch a shuttle bus to the terminal.

RAC senior policy officer Rod Dennis said: “It’s disappointing to see so many airports charging so much for what many regard as a simple act of kindness in dropping off family and friends.

“Having a captive audience should be no excuse for these farewell fees, especially when they’re completely at odds with how major airports around the world operate.

“Of course, airports need to manage the limited space they have carefully, but if free, convenient drop-off zones work at many other international airports, then why not here?”

Mr Dennis also warned drivers to take extra care when using airports with “park now, pay later” systems without barriers.

He said: “Those that drop off but miss the signage or forget to pay soon afterwards can face a parking charge notice as high as £100 – a fee that feels distinctly disproportionate to the contravention.”

There were only four airports in the study that had not increased their costs. Liverpool John Lennon, East Midlands, Belfast City and Southampton.

Most expensive airport drop-off charges:

• £10: Gatwick and Stansted
• £8.50: Bristol and Edinburgh
• £8: Bournemouth, Leeds Bradford and London City
• £7: Aberdeen, Birmingham, Glasgow, Heathrow, Luton and Southampton
• £6: Liverpool John Lennon and Newcastle
• £5.50: Manchester
• £5: Belfast International and East Midlands
• £4.50: Cardiff
• £4: Belfast City

It might seem harmless at first glance, but it could lead to unnecessary delays

Packing for a holiday can feel like navigating a minefield, with a long list of rules on what can and can’t go in your luggage. While some banned items are obvious, others seem completely innocent at first glance – yet bringing them to the airport could still result in officials delaying your journey.

There is one everyday item that is allowed by all major airlines, including Ryanair, Jet2, TUI, easyJet and British Airways, but could still attract attention during security screening if officers are unable to identify it clearly on the scanner. To avoid unnecessary delays or having to unpack your luggage at the checkpoint, travellers are advised to pack toiletries in a way that makes them easy to inspect.

A simple bar of soap – buyable at Sainsbury’s for 35p, for example – might seem like one of the most harmless items you could take on holiday. However, it is not the soap itself that can cause concern – it is the way a solid item may appear when passing through security scanners.

Airport security staff do not routinely search luggage simply because it contains a bar of soap. However, dense items can sometimes make X-ray images harder to interpret, particularly when they are packed alongside electronics, cables or other bulky belongings. If officers cannot clearly identify an item, they may carry out additional checks before allowing passengers through.

The government information website GOV.UK says: “Airport security staff will not let anything through that they consider dangerous – even if it’s normally allowed in hand luggage.” While soap clearly is not dangerous, if a bar of soap raises an alert on the scanner, they are legally required to stop the passenger and inspect it.

The US Transport Security Agency (TSA), for instance, says passengers are often asked to separate dense items because they can “clutter bags and obstruct clear images on the X-ray machine.” When a solid block of soap, cheese, or other dense organic material blocks the scanner’s view or mimics a threat signature, protocol requires a physical bag search or chemical swab testing to clear the item.

According to GOV.UK, solid bars of soap are permitted in both hand luggage and checked baggage. Security officers can still manually inspect any item they are unable to identify clearly during the screening process, regardless of whether it is allowed.

To reduce the chances of your bag being opened, experts recommend keeping dense items easy to access and, if requested, placing them in a separate tray during screening. Avoid storing them inside thick metal tins or rigid plastic cases alongside items such as power banks, charging cables and other electronics, as this can make X-ray images harder to interpret.

It’s also important not to confuse solid soap with liquid toiletries. While bars of soap are exempt from liquid restrictions, liquid soaps, shower gels and similar products carried in hand luggage must normally be in containers holding no more than 100ml, unless you’re travelling through an airport that has introduced next-generation security scanners permitting larger liquids.

The rules apply regardless of which airline you’re flying with, as baggage screening is carried out by the airport rather than carriers such as Ryanair, Jet2, TUI, easyJet or British Airways. A manual inspection is simply a precaution and does not mean you’ve broken any rules or packed a prohibited item.

Taking a few moments to think about how you pack everyday toiletries could help make your journey through security a little smoother. Although a 35p bar of soap is perfectly legal to travel with, storing it sensibly could help avoid unnecessary delays before your holiday even begins.