Parking at Birmingham Airport

Dropping someone off at Birmingham Airport

Dropping off at the terminal is free for the first 10 minutes, and up to £56 after that.

Birmingham publishes one set of car park tariffs for the airport, with no split by terminal — the difference in price is between facilities, not terminals.

The free ten minutes are in the Drop Off Car Park, a five to ten minute walk from the main check-in desks, postcode B26 3QJ. Stay longer and the ladder starts at £7 for 10–15 minutes and climbs to £56 for 55–60 minutes, then £8 for each extra 15 minutes. Premium Set Down, one minute from the terminal, has no free period at all: £8 for up to 15 minutes, rising to £61 for 55–60 minutes and £8 per extra 15 after that. Both are barrierless, operated by number plate recognition, and the charge must be paid within 24 hours of exit through AutoPay, Post Pay online or an on-site machine. Come back to the Drop Off Car Park before the hour is up and you lose the free ten minutes. Blue Badge holders get 30 minutes free at Premium Set Down when validated at the NCP customer service cabin with the badge and the registration number. Passengers using Twilight Check-In or day-before bag drop booked directly with the airport get the first 60 minutes free at Premium Set Down.

Free alternative: The Drop Off Car Park itself is the free option: ten minutes at no charge, five to ten minutes' walk from check-in. Postcode B26 3QJ.

The airport's own drop-off page →

Picking someone up

The first 10 minutes are free.

The same Drop Off Car Park and its free ten minutes serve collections too, on the same ladder beyond them. The airport also points arriving traffic at Car Park 5, where tariffs start from £12 for up to an hour.

Free alternative: The Drop Off Car Park's free ten minutes apply to collecting as well as dropping — but the return rule bites hardest here: if a flight is late and you drive out and come back within the hour, the free ten minutes are gone.

Car parks at Birmingham Airport

What catches people out at Birmingham Airport

• Free ten minutes, unless you came back — The Drop Off Car Park gives ten minutes free — but customers returning before the hour is up do not get them. Dropping a passenger, driving out, then coming back because they forgot a bag turns a free visit into a charged one, and the ladder starts at £7. source
• The near car park has no free period at all — Premium Set Down is a minute from the terminal and charges £8 from the first minute. The Drop Off Car Park is five to ten minutes' walk and gives ten minutes free. The £8 buys the walk, not the time — and if you are under ten minutes, the walk is the whole difference. source
• Twenty-five minutes costs £19 or £20 — Both ladders settle into £6 steps once they get going. At Premium Set Down twenty to twenty-five minutes is £19 and twenty-five to thirty is £25; in the Drop Off Car Park the same bands are £14 and £20. A delayed flight does not cost you minutes here, it costs you £6 at a time. source
• There is no barrier to stop you forgetting — Both car parks are barrierless and read your number plate. Nothing stops you driving out unpaid, and the charge is due within 24 hours of exit through AutoPay, Post Pay or an on-site machine. Miss it and APCOA can issue a £100 parking charge notice. source
• The Blue Badge half hour has to be validated in person — Blue Badge holders get 30 minutes free at Premium Set Down, but only after visiting the NCP customer service cabin with the badge and the vehicle registration. Park, drop off and drive away without stopping there and the standard tariff applies — £8 for the same half hour becomes £25. source

If you get a ticket at Birmingham Airport

Birmingham Airport is private land. A notice issued here is a parking charge notice — a claim under the contract you accept by parking, not a fine issued by a council. Nobody at the airport has the power to fine you.

Because this is not a council notice, an appeal does not go to the Traffic Penalty Tribunal, which hears council penalty charge notices in England outside London, and Wales.

Enforcement is carried out by APCOA Parking UK Ltd on behalf of Birmingham Airport Limited.

The operator is a member of the British Parking Association (BPA), so an appeal it rejects goes to POPLA, Parking on Private Land Appeals. You do not choose which body hears it — the trade association decides that.

How a private parking charge works, and when the keeper can be pursued →

Appealing a private parking charge, step by step →

The airport directs all appeals and enquiries to APCOA Parking, PO Box 222, Lowton Way, Hellaby, Sheffield, S98 1NX, and names no appeals service of its own. Because APCOA is a member of the British Parking Association's Approved Operator Scheme, its rejection is what opens the appeal to POPLA.

Nearby

• Parking in Birmingham council tickets, not private charges
• Bristol Airport
• East Midlands Airport
• Gatwick
• Heathrow
• Liverpool John Lennon Airport
• London City Airport