Airport parking guide

Parking at Manchester Airport

What it costs to drop someone off, what the car parks charge, what catches people out and who issues a ticket and how to appeal at Manchester Airport.

MANGreater ManchesterReviewed 19 October 2026

Manchester charges £5.50 for five minutes in the Drop Off Zone, £6.50 for ten, and £25 for anything up to the thirty-minute maximum — with nothing at all between the ten-minute and thirty-minute prices. The airport publishes a separate table for each terminal, but Terminal 2 and Terminal 3 carry the same figures; only the postcodes differ. Collecting someone is a separate facility at a separate price: Express Pick Up is £6.60 for up to fifteen minutes, and £60 if you overstay — and using the Drop Off zone for a pick-up instead is a £100 charge. The free alternative is the Free Drop Off area, sixty minutes free with a shuttle running around the clock, but drive out and come back within half an hour and there is a £25 recirculation fee waiting.

MAN Greater Manchester England Manchester Airport PLC

£5.50–£25Drop-off
30 minutesMaximum stay
NoneFree period
3Car parks
POPLAAppeals go to

Dropping someone off at Manchester Airport

Dropping off at the terminal costs £5.50 to £25.

How long you stayWhat it costs
Up to 5 minutes £5.50
Up to 10 minutes £6.50
Up to 30 minutes £25 There is no band between ten minutes and thirty: eleven minutes costs the same as twenty-nine.

The same price applies at every terminal. Manchester publishes a separate drop-off tariff for each terminal, which is why the question arises at all — but the two tables carry the same figures: £5.50 for five minutes, £6.50 for ten and £25 up to thirty, at Terminal 2 (M90 5PH) and Terminal 3 (M90 1NN) alike. Terminal 1 is no longer in operation.

The maximum stay is thirty minutes and payment must be made online by midnight the following day. The same prices apply at Terminal 2, postcode M90 5PH, and Terminal 3, postcode M90 1NN; Terminal 1 is no longer in operation. Note what the zone is not for: the airport applies a £100 charge to anyone attempting to pick up a passenger in the Drop Off zone, whatever the drop-off tariff says.

Free alternative: The Free Drop Off area gives 60 minutes free with a 24/7 shuttle to the terminals — but see the recirculation fee below.

The airport's own drop-off page →

Picking someone up

Collecting from the terminal costs £6.60 for up to 15 minutes.

Overstaying the fifteen-minute maximum at Terminal 2 Express Pick Up incurs a £60 charge. Express Pick Up is a separate facility from the Drop Off Zone, at postcode M90 5PR, with its own price and its own maximum stay.

Free alternative: The Free Drop Off area's sixty free minutes apply to waiting as well as dropping, and it is the cheaper place to wait for a delayed arrival — as long as you do not drive out and return within thirty minutes.

Car parks at Manchester Airport

Car park Type Walk Prices
Free Drop Off
Free for an hour with a 24/7 shuttle to the terminals. An overstay charge of £25 applies beyond 60 minutes, and re-entering within 30 minutes of leaving carries a £25 recirculation fee. Blue Badge holders have no time limit. Enforced by traffic marshals and Greater Manchester Police. 		Budget Shuttle bus Up to 60 minutes: Free
Drop Off Zone — Terminals 2 and 3
At the terminal. The same ladder applies at Terminal 2 (postcode M90 5PH) and Terminal 3 (postcode M90 1NN). Note the step between the 10-minute and 30-minute price — there is nothing in between. A £100 charge applies to anyone attempting to pick up a passenger here. 		Short stay 2 min 5 minutes: £5.50
10 minutes: £6.50
Up to 30 minutes: £25
Express Pick Up — Terminal 2
For collecting an arriving passenger. £60 if you overstay the 15 minutes. 		Short stay 2 min Up to 15 minutes: £6.60

What catches people out at Manchester Airport

  • One minute past ten costs eighteen pounds fifty — The Terminal 2 drop-off ladder is £5.50 for five minutes and £6.50 for ten — and then £25 for anything up to thirty. There is no step in between. A bag that takes a minute longer than expected nearly quadruples the price. source
  • Coming back within half an hour costs £25 — The Free Drop Off area charges a £25 recirculation fee if you re-enter within 30 minutes of leaving. Driving out and circling back because a flight is late — the obvious thing to do — is exactly what it catches. source
  • Fifteen minutes at Express Pick Up, then £60 — Collecting someone costs £6.60 for up to fifteen minutes. Overstay and it is a £60 charge — nine times over the price of the stay itself. Arrivals halls being what they are, this is the easiest £60 at the airport to spend. source
  • The £100 notice can become £170 — The parking charge is £100, halved to £60 if paid within 14 days, with 28 days to pay in full. Leave it beyond that and the terms allow a debt recovery fee of up to £70 on top. source
  • Appealing costs you the £40 discount — POPLA states that an appeal does not require the operator to preserve or extend the reduced rate, and that an appeal takes six to eight weeks — well past the fourteen days. Challenging a £100 notice means giving up the £60 option if you lose. source
  • Picking up in the drop-off zone is £100 — The Drop Off zone is for dropping off. Manchester states that a £100 charge will be applied to those attempting to pick up passengers there — so pulling in to collect an arrival, rather than using Express Pick Up a short distance away, turns a £6.60 errand into a £100 one. source

If you get a ticket at Manchester Airport

Manchester 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) Limited on behalf of Manchester Airport PLC.

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 →

NoticeChargeIf paid early Time to pay
Parking charge notice — unpaid drop-off or breach of the terms
28 days to pay in full. Issued by APCOA on the airport's behalf. A debt recovery fee of up to £70 can be added on top if it goes unpaid. 		£100 £60 within 14 days 28 days
Free Drop Off overstay charge — beyond 60 minutes
Not a parking charge notice — a charge under the Free Drop Off terms for staying past the free hour. 		£25 Not confirmed Not confirmed
Free Drop Off recirculation fee — re-entering within 30 minutes
Charged for driving back in within half an hour of leaving, whether or not you stopped for long. Circling to wait for a delayed flight is the usual way people meet it. 		£25 Not confirmed Not confirmed
Express Pick Up overstay charge — beyond 15 minutes
Nine times over the £6.60 the fifteen minutes cost. 		£60 Not confirmed Not confirmed

Challenge APCOA first; only its rejection opens the appeal to POPLA, because APCOA is a member of the British Parking Association's Approved Operator Scheme.

Nearby

Common questions

How much is it to drop someone at Manchester Airport?
£5.50 for five minutes, £6.50 for ten, and £25 for anything up to the thirty-minute maximum. There is no step between ten minutes and thirty, so eleven minutes costs the same as twenty-nine. The same prices apply at Terminal 2 and Terminal 3.
Is there a free drop-off at Manchester?
Yes — the Free Drop Off area gives 60 minutes free with a shuttle running to the terminals around the clock, and Blue Badge holders have no time limit at all. Two things to watch: staying past the hour is a £25 overstay charge, and re-entering within 30 minutes of leaving is a £25 recirculation fee.
What does it cost to pick someone up?
£6.60 for up to fifteen minutes at Terminal 2 Express Pick Up. Overstay that and the charge is £60. If the flight is delayed, the Free Drop Off area with its free hour is the safer place to wait — as long as you do not drive out and come back.
What happens if I do not pay?
Payment is due online by midnight the day after your visit. Miss it and APCOA issues a parking charge notice of £100 on the airport's behalf, reduced to £60 if you pay within 14 days, with 28 days to pay in full. The terms also allow a debt recovery fee of up to £70 if it goes further.
Which terminals is this for?
Terminals 2 and 3. Terminal 1 is no longer in operation. Manchester publishes its drop-off prices per terminal rather than as one airport figure — but the two tables are identical, £5.50 for five minutes, £6.50 for ten and £25 up to thirty. What differs is the postcode: M90 5PH for Terminal 2, M90 1NN for Terminal 3.
Is a Manchester Airport notice the same as a council parking ticket?
No. The airport is private land, so this is a private parking charge under contract rather than a penalty charge notice from a council, and it does not go to the Traffic Penalty Tribunal. Challenge APCOA first; if it rejects you, the appeal goes to POPLA, because APCOA is in the British Parking Association's Approved Operator Scheme.
Who is actually enforcing the free area?
Traffic marshals and Greater Manchester Police, according to the airport's own terms — marshals can require a vehicle to move on. The paid Drop Off Zone is enforced by APCOA with cameras and notices.
Can I use the drop-off zone to pick someone up at Manchester?
No. The airport applies a £100 charge to anyone attempting to pick up a passenger in the Drop Off zone. Collections go to Express Pick Up at £6.60 for up to fifteen minutes, or to the Free Drop Off area with its free hour.

Sources

Figures last checked 19 October 2026