UK airport public transport access fee

[davidjohnson6]

Many of the UK's larger airports now charge a fee for people wishing to travel to/from an airport by private car... or conditions involve the use of a bus via a long stay car park or other site remote from a terminal.

If one uses public transport, be it train, tram, coach or bus... is an airport allowed to charge a profit-oriented access fee, either per passenger, or a substantial per vehicle fee which the local transport operator will seek to recoup via higher fares ? How much is this likely to be on a per-passenger basis ? I'm excluding the Luton DART as a special case

[SWBKCB]

I would imagine most airports have sustainability plans which include targets to increase the use of public transport.

[Less Hair]

Sustainability plans? Feels more like a revenue target.

[Asturias56]

Almost all airports have targets or at least aspirations to increase the use of public transport - it makes it easier for them to meet their green targets

[DaveReidUK]

I would imagine most airports have sustainability plans which include targets to increase the use of public transport.

Yes, they do. Hard to see how an "access fee" would be compatible with that objective.

[PAXboy]

My cynical view is that they will charge anyone for anything at anytime... Since the Black Cabs have to pay a fee then the busses will be charged too. Airports were stopped as public services many moons ago.

[DaveReidUK]

My cynical view is that they will charge anyone for anything at anytime... Since the Black Cabs have to pay a fee then the busses will be charged too. Airports were stopped as public services many moons ago.

Is there actually any evidence that airports are planning to do so ?

[davidjohnson6]

Is there actually any evidence that airports are planning to do so ?
Luton tried charging Green Line a hefty per passenger fee around 2013-2014. Ended up in court, with LTN losing.
I don't understand the details of the case, but imagine there are technicalities which can be overcome to turn public transport access into a revenue stream for an airport..hoping somebody might be able to give details

[PAXboy]

I do not know if busses are charged - but I expect that airports would like to. However, Black Cabs have to follow instructions from LHR, park in their specific park and can only move through to a terminal when called. As I understand it, there is a fee paid to LHR to be able to work there. I shall research this further.

[Hartington]

The railway tunnel to Heathow is owned by the airport and they charge a fee per train. It's not as much as they wanted but I can't remember if it was simple negotiations or a "regulator".

Ah - it was the office of rail and road (and the courts) Law comment. (https://www.burges-salmon.com/news-and-insight/legal-updates/airport-refused-the-power-to-apply-higher-access-charges-to-rail-users-of-railway-link)

[PAXboy]

I contacted the London Cabbie and YouTuber: Tom the Taxi Driver (https://www.youtube.com/@TomtheTaxiDriver)
Here he confirms the costs:

1. Only Green Badge taxis that have completed The Knowledge of London are allowed to apply for a “tag”. It’s a card that can have credits applied to it and sits within a cradle called a booster.

2. From memory, the booster was approximately £15-£20, as was the tag card. 1 credit to enter the feeder park costs £7.20. You have to purchase a minimum 3 credits at a time.

3. It all depends on time of day and circumstances. In recent post Covid times due to a shortage of drivers, currently it can run around 2-3 hours as an average, but at night it can be as quick at 20 minutes. This however is risky, as you run the chance of all the flights landing and no more passengers coming out, meaning you have to wait on the rank until the early morning once flights resume to get a job (or you can leave the rank and forfeit the £7.20 you paid).

So they have to pay for the card and booster (which registers the card to an automatic reader and that was about £30/40 one off) then £7.20 per fare but having to buy 3 at a time means that LHR gets their money upfront some days before it used. They have to go into the Feeder Park and then (in sequence) wait until called and told which Terminal to go to. They may have to wait 3 hours (or more) to get a fare.

When they drop a fare at a Terminal, they are not allowed to immediately pick up another but must go to the Feeder Park - or leave LHR.

[DaveReidUK]

It also explains why cabbies aren't exactly thrilled when you get in their cab at one of the Heathrow terminals and say "Hounslow, please". :O

[Asturias56]

But oddly the Feeder park used to be absolutely rammed during teh day - I suspect its somewhere they go for la break when they're out West.

A real issue is the impossibility of getting a cab to say Slough or Windsor from LHR without booking in advance

[PAXboy]

Tom the Taxi Driver did say that you can use the time to do paperwork (laptop) for accounts and eat. But you can see why some drivers might have a fare to LHR and then go into neighbouring areas to work their way back into town, rather than pay and wait.

[V_2]

It also explains why cabbies aren't exactly thrilled when you get in their cab at one of the Heathrow terminals and say "Hounslow, please". :O

it used to be the case that if they got a “short” fare they got a pass that let them skip the majority of the queue and come back to the front. But that was some time ago and I’m not sure on the exact range or if this still happens.

back to the original question, yes I heard on the grapevine (maybe on this forum….?j that SEN airport agreed a charge/commission per train user that the train company would pay the airport, ( can’t recall the amount.) trouble was all the local commuters started using the station too and the train company got caught out and wanted to pay less on the agreement, or so the story goes.

a similar discussion over who pays for the station and who gets the ticket revenue is partly why there’s no cross rail station for LCY. I think the airport got a bit stung with the DLR previously although long term it was money well spent.

[PAXboy]

I was very lucky that, for a few years, my neighbour was a London Cabbie but he lived in West Hertfordshire. On several occaisions, we agreed a time and he started his day by going to LHR, dropping me off before collecting a fare. He did not charge me as he said that he was going that way! Lovely chap who also taught piano in his spare time.

[Kiltrash]

Given I have a senior bus pass, access to the airport for me is effectively free. However the busses that charge normal punters it's £2 whether it's one stop of 20. So getting to the airport a bus makes sense with no parking charges. Of note there does not seem to be a counter system that shows how many people get off or on the local bus. It no doubt would be different for the National Express or Green Line longer distance coaches that are not capped at £2.