Blue badge holders should not pay airport drop-off fees, charity says

All UK airports ought to cease charging blue badge holders for being dropped off near terminals, a incapacity charity has stated.

A number of folks with blue badges acquired in contact with the BBC following information that greater than half of the busiest airports had raised the so-called “kiss-and-fly” fees to as excessive as £7 in some instances.

Many airports already provide reductions or waive the price for disabled drivers, however blue badge holders say the system is complicated and inconsistent.

Graham Footer, chief govt of Disabled Motoring UK, stated some airports have “allowed greed to cloud their judgement”, and argues folks with disabilities mustn’t should pay the cost in any respect.

“Disabled clients need to be handled with respect and dignity and never fleeced as quickly as they arrive,” he stated.

The BBC contacted the 20 busiest airports within the UK to substantiate their coverage on drop-off costs for blue badge holders.

London Metropolis doesn’t cost drop-off charges for any sort of passenger.

Gatwick, Birmingham, Edinburgh, Heathrow, Liverpool John Lennon and Manchester all cost a drop-off price, however blue badge holders do not need to pay it.

Luton, Glasgow, Belfast Worldwide, Belfast Metropolis, East Midlands, Aberdeen, and Southampton all cost blue badge holders the identical as different passengers for utilizing the drop-off areas closest to the airport. However in addition they all provide separate free drop-off parking particularly for blue badge holders elsewhere.

For Glasgow and Aberdeen, this parking is simply free if blue badge holders are being dropped off by household or associates – not if they’re dropped off by taxi.

All airports provide free drop-off choices farther from the terminals for all passengers – not simply blue badge holders – comparable to “park and experience” services the place folks can go away their automotive and take a bus to the airport.

Bristol, Leeds Bradford, and Bournemouth all cost blue badge holders for drop off however enable them to remain for longer than different passengers at a decrease price.

Bristol costs £7 for 40 minutes, Leeds Bradford costs £7 for 60 minutes, and Bournemouth costs £5 for 4 hours as a result of it stated disabled passengers “could require extra time”.

Solely Cardiff, Newcastle, and Stanstead cost the identical price with no low cost in any respect.

Cardiff costs £3 for 10 minutes, Newcastle costs £5 for 10 minutes, and Stanstead costs £7 for quarter-hour.

Airports UK, which represents the trade, stated that the perfect accessible drop-off for blue badge holders is determined by the format of the airport.

“Nobody possibility is right in any respect airports, so to optimise entry at every airport the provide will essentially be totally different,” it stated.

It suggested passengers to examine the airport’s web site earlier than travelling to establish the perfect drop-off location.

Many of the airports that waive drop-off charges achieve this if a disabled driver exhibits their blue badge on the airport on the day.

Nevertheless, for Heathrow and Liverpool, the exemption must be claimed on-line or on the telephone both earlier than or after travelling. Heathrow says its online process for confirming blue badges can take five days to complete, although it advised the BBC it often takes 48 hours.

James Williams, 67, from London finds these providers troublesome to make use of.

“I’m a blue badge holder and I’ve to pay as a result of I’m not laptop literate,” he says, arguing that “it’s a must to bounce by means of hoops to get this low cost”.

Jonathan Cassar, 51, from London says the complicated nature of on-line registration implies that “disabled individuals who have to be dropped at terminal can’t be spontaneous as others can”.

Heathrow stated it had tried to make the blue badge registration course of “so simple as attainable” and suggested anybody who wants registration urgently to get it permitted over the telephone.

Liverpool stated it had launched on-line affirmation “to minimise abuse of the blue badge system”.

Not all blue badge holders really feel being charged for airport drop off is unfair.

Gordon Richardson, chair of the British Polio Fellowship Board, is a blue badge holder however says he’s “not towards the precept” of disabled folks paying the identical as non-disabled folks.

He says what’s most essential is that the house is accessible and simple to make use of.

He urges blue badge holders to contact airports earlier than travelling in order that the airports can have the employees prepared to assist them and guarantee they get their low cost or free parking.

Most of the airports the BBC contacted stated their blue badge insurance policies had been drafted in session with incapacity teams and with particular consideration for his or her wants.