City News

Birmingham International Airport (BIA) will be making changes to its car park and set-down areas from Thursday 2nd August to cope with the closure of the roads at the front of the Terminal buildings.

A new ‘Rapid Drop-Off’ area will be situated close to Terminals One and Two and will cost £1 for 20 minutes. The ‘Rapid Drop-Off’ area is suitable for those with time-pressures and is intended for drop-off only. For this reason, drivers should not need to use the facility for longer than 20 minutes; however, stays over 20 minutes will be charged £3 for every subsequent fifteen minutes.

Those who are able to make more time can opt to use the ‘free’ drop-off facilities. These will be located in the long-stay car parks and will provide up to 30 minutes of free parking.  There are regular free buses between the ‘free’ drop-off and the Terminals.

All Short-Stay parking and pick-up facilities will be located in the Airport’s Multi-Storey car parks (the existing short-stay, near the Novotel, will be closed), and the price has been reduced by £0.70 to £1 for the first 30 minutes. Beyond 30 minutes, the usual short stay charges will apply. The Multi-Storey car parks are all situated within a 2 minute walk from the terminal building - giving people a convenient and value-for-money waiting area for picking-up arriving passengers.

John Morris, Head of Corporate Affairs at the Airport, said: “Since the attempted terrorist attacks in Glasgow and London, our set-down roads have remained closed at the front of the Terminals and during this time the existing Short-Stay car park has been used as a temporary measure for dropping-off passengers, which has been free for 10 minutes. Although Birmingham has not suffered any severe traffic congestion, more permanent facilities have to be introduced prior to the peak summer period to speed up the flows of traffic. 

“For the foreseeable future, our set-down roads will remain closed so we have responded to operational and passenger needs to improve the flow of traffic on the approach roads to the Terminals, enable people to get in and out of the Airport quickly and help them to unload from vehicles safely. We are giving drivers a choice: free parking will be available for 30 minutes in the Long-Stay car parks; alternatively they can use the Rapid Drop-Off facility.”

The Airport has also considered the impact of these changes to disabled drivers and passengers by providing a 30 minute complimentary parking facility in the Rapid Drop-Off area. To obtain the free parking, drivers should go to the NCP Customer Service Desk in Terminal One prior to leaving the Airport and show their Blue Badge to get their car park ticket validated. Passengers requiring special assistance should call OCS on 0121 767 7878 who will asses individual circumstances.

New signs have been put in place around the airport and on its access roads directing passengers to the Rapid Drop-Off zone, Short-Stay and Long-Stay car parks.

The Airport encourages passengers to visit its website – www.bhx.co.uk – prior to travelling to the Airport to familiarise themselves with these changes and to speed up their journey through the Airport. We also advise people being dropped off at the ‘free’ facility to leave more time for their journey; alternatively, for just £1, passengers can use the Rapid Drop-Off, just one minute from the terminal building. On-site longer term and holiday parking can also be pre-booked via its website at very competitive rates - for as little at £2.99 a day.