Airport parking guide

Parking at London Stansted 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 London Stansted Airport.

STNEssexReviewed 19 October 2026

Stansted has two drop-off prices and nothing between them: £10 for up to fifteen minutes at Express Set Down, and £28 for anything longer, up to a thirty-minute maximum. One price covers the whole airport, with no split by terminal, and the same area is used for pick-ups as for drop-offs. There is no barrier and no ticket — cameras read the plate on entry and the charge must be paid by 23:59 the following day. The free alternative is the Mid Stay car park, one hour free with a shuttle running 24/7. Two things are worth knowing before you drive in: half an hour in the Short Stay car park is £13 against £28 on the forecourt, and residents within ten miles can register to pay £1 or less.

STN Essex England Stansted Airport Limited

£10–£28Drop-off
30 minutesMaximum stay
NoneFree period
3Car parks
POPLAAppeals go to

Dropping someone off at London Stansted Airport

Dropping off at the terminal costs £10 to £28.

How long you stayWhat it costs
Up to 15 minutes £10
Over 15 minutes, up to the 30-minute maximum £28 There is nothing in between. One minute past the quarter hour adds £18. If you want to check this figure at the airport itself, it is announced in London Stansted's own operational notice about Express Set Down rather than on its pick-up and drop-off page, whose price table does not display.

Stansted publishes a single drop-off price for the airport, with no split by terminal.

The maximum stay is thirty minutes. Stay longer and APCOA may issue a parking charge of £100, reduced to £60 if paid within 14 days. The area is barrier-free and read by number plate recognition on entry, and the £10 or £28 must be paid by 23:59 on the day after the visit. There is no exemption from the charge itself: where the passenger holds a valid Blue Badge the maximum stay can be extended if reasonably required, but the airport's terms state that all vehicles using Express Set Down must pay for their visit. Residents within ten miles can register in advance for the Local Resident Discount Scheme and pay £0.50 or £1.00 instead of £10.

Free alternative: The Mid Stay car park gives one hour free, with a free shuttle bus running 24/7. Postcode CM24 1PZ.

The airport's own drop-off page →

Picking someone up

Collecting from the terminal costs £10 to £28.

Stansted runs no separate pick-up facility: Express Set Down covers both, at the same price and the same thirty-minute maximum, so waiting for an arriving passenger is charged exactly like dropping one off. Past thirty minutes a £100 parking charge may be issued, reduced to £60 within 14 days.

Free alternative: The Mid Stay car park's free hour applies to waiting as well as dropping. Postcode CM24 1PZ.

Car parks at London Stansted Airport

Car park Type Prices
Mid Stay
The free alternative to the forecourt: one hour free, with a free shuttle bus running around the clock. Postcode CM24 1PZ. Longer stays are charged at the car park's own rates. 		Budget Up to 1 hour: Free
Short Stay (Green and Blue)
Maximum stay four hours. Worth comparing with the forecourt: half an hour here is £13, while half an hour at Express Set Down is £28. 		Short stay Up to 30 minutes: £13
Up to 1 hour: £21
Up to 2 hours: £25
Up to 4 hours: £38
Express Set Down
The terminal forecourt. Barrier-free, ANPR on entry, pay by 23:59 the following day. 		Short stay Up to 15 minutes: £10
Over 15 minutes, up to 30: £28

What catches people out at London Stansted Airport

  • Sixteen minutes costs £28 — Express Set Down has two prices and nothing in between: £10 for up to fifteen minutes, £28 for anything above that up to the thirty-minute maximum. One minute over the quarter hour adds £18. There is no per-minute taper to soften it. source
  • The car park is cheaper than the kerb — Half an hour in the Short Stay car park is £13. Half an hour on the forecourt is £28. If you already know you will need more than fifteen minutes, driving past the forecourt into Short Stay saves £15 — both figures from the airport's own pages. source
  • A Blue Badge buys time, not a free visit — Where the passenger holds a valid Blue Badge the maximum stay can be extended if reasonably required. It does not make the visit free: the terms say all vehicles using Express Set Down must pay for their visit. The concession is on the clock, not on the charge. source
  • Live near the airport and the £10 becomes 50p — The Local Resident Discount Scheme charges £0.50 for up to fifteen minutes if you live within five miles of the airport, and £1.00 within ten. Everyone else pays £10. It has to be applied for in advance with a V5C, and registration changes take up to ten working days — so it is no use on the day you need it. source
  • Paying is a separate act from leaving — There is no barrier and no ticket. The charge must be paid by 23:59 on the day after the visit, online, by phone or by AutoPay. Drive off and forget, and the first thing you hear about it is a £100 notice. source

If you get a ticket at London Stansted Airport

London Stansted 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 Stansted 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 →

NoticeChargeIf paid early Time to pay
Parking charge notice — unpaid charge or overstaying the 30 minutes
28 days to pay in full. Issued by APCOA on the airport's behalf, using registered keeper details obtained from the DVLA. The terms also allow debt recovery costs on top, without stating an amount. 		£100 £60 within 14 days 28 days

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 Stansted?
£10 for up to fifteen minutes, and £28 for anything longer, up to a thirty-minute maximum. There is no free period and no price between the two bands, so sixteen minutes costs the same as twenty-nine.
Where does Stansted publish these prices?
The £10 band appears on the airport's own pages in more than one place. The £28 band is announced in London Stansted's operational notice about changes to Express Set Down — the pick-up and drop-off page carries both figures in its price table, but that table does not display, so a reader checking there will not see them. Both figures are the airport's own.
Is there a free drop-off at Stansted?
Yes — the Mid Stay car park gives one hour free, with a free shuttle bus to the terminal running 24 hours a day. The postcode is CM24 1PZ. It is the airport's own recommended alternative to the forecourt.
What does it cost to pick someone up?
The same. Stansted does not run a separate pick-up facility — Express Set Down handles both, at £10 for fifteen minutes and £28 beyond that. Since arriving passengers are the ones most likely to be delayed, the £28 band is easier to hit on a pick-up than on a drop-off.
What happens if I do not pay?
Payment is due by 23:59 on the day after your visit. Miss it and a £100 parking charge notice is issued to the registered keeper, reduced to £60 if paid within 14 days, with 28 days to pay in full. The terms also allow debt recovery costs to be added, though no amount is published.
Do Blue Badge holders park free at Stansted?
Not on the forecourt. Where the passenger holds a valid Blue Badge, the maximum stay can be extended if reasonably required, but the airport's terms state that all vehicles using Express Set Down must pay for their visit.
Is there a discount for people who live nearby?
Yes. The Local Resident Discount Scheme charges £0.50 for up to fifteen minutes for residents within five miles, and £1.00 within ten miles, measured from Enterprise House, Bassingbourn Road. You must be 18 or over, apply in advance with your V5C, and be the sole account holder for the address. Up to two vehicles can be registered.
Is a Stansted 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.

Sources

Figures last checked 19 October 2026