AIRPORT AILMENTS
MANCHESTER AIRPORT INTRODUCES DROP-OFF CHARGES TO CUT CONGESTION BUT CAUSES GRIDLOCK
Manchester Airport launched a new drop-off site on 10 July in an effort to tackle congestion, which
involves
charges for those who want to be dropped off directly outside each termi- nal and station. City.a.m. reports that the airport hopes to slash the number of cars entering the busiest areas of the site with the new system. As reported in PHTM back
in March,
Manchester Airport announced it would be creating a dedi- cated drop-off site from where passen- gers could board a free shuttle service
to their terminal. Passengers
can
either use the free drop-off site for all three terminals and station and get the shuttle to the right place, or pay if they want to get a drop directly outside the terminal buildings. A charging systemis in force for areas directly
outside
each terminal and station with a £3 charge for five min- utes and £4 for ten minutes. Vehicles will not be allowed to recirculate after paying the drop-off charge, and those that do will face a £25 penalty. The charge will just apply to those being
with your super £3 anti
congestion
Complaints have started to flood in about delays in the flow of the new system
dropped off and there will be no change to the cur- rent arrangements for picking people up, with those col- lecting passengers asked to park in the car parks at each terminal. Tricia Williams, chief operating officer of
ABERDEEN AIRPORT AXES TAXI FIRM AND TAKES CONTRACT IN-HOUSE
Aberdeen Interna- tional Airport has launched its own taxi service to trans- port plane passen- gers on the final leg of their journey. Senior staff believe that running the ser- vice themselves, in conjunction with the airport’s car park management firm, will allow them to “manage it more closely”. Previously the air- port had contracted Dyce-based Com- cab to ferry pas- sengers into the city following
their
flights. Travel ser- vices manager, Jem- ma Forrest, ex- plained that the new approach had “par-
12
tially” been in- fluenced by feed- back from custom- ers. She told the Press and Journal: “We want the passenger experience to be as positive as possible and we know that having access to taxis on arrival at the airport is impor- tant for our cus- tomers.” “We look forward to ensuring the current and future needs of our passengers are met.” The Airport Parking Corporation
of
America (Apcoa) manages car park- ing at the site and will help to oversee the new arrange-
ments. Aberdeen council- lors had previously quarrelled with air- port bosses for imposing a contro- versial £2 drop-off charge on drivers. Cllr Steve Delaney, said: “The airport has clearly taken a commercial deci- sion here, but my only interest is that the new service pro- vided is of sufficient quality.We will keep an eye on how the travelling
public
respond to it.” The change only applies to the “walk- up” service, and customers who pre- book taxi transport with other firms can continue to do so.
Manchester Airport, said:
“Manchester
Airport has seen a significant increase in passenger vol- umes in the past five years. This growth, coupled
with
imposed security restrictions on fore- court capacity and an inability to in- crease
available
space, has led to extreme congestion around the estate, especially at peak times.
It became
clear we had to take a more proactive approach to manag- ing this, as Man- chester Airport con- tinues
which is why we are introducing
forecourt manage- ment system.” However a few days after intoducing the new system it is actually
more gridlock, say frustrated drivers. StokeonTrentLive reports that com- plaints have started to flood in about delays in the flow of the new system. Chris Burgess was among passengers venting his frustra- tion, tweeting: “Can you explain why the airport is gridlocked
to grow, this
drop-off in full flow at 4.20pm?” Private hire driver Gary Stewart, mean- while, claims he was stuck in queues at Terminal One for an hour on the morning of Thursday 12 July, before
being
charged £25 for going over the ten- minute limit, reports the Manchester Eve- ning News. He blames ‘poor design’ of the drop- off lanes at the car park exit - and claims Manchester Airport has been ‘cost-cut- ting’ because T1 is eventually destined for demolition as part of £1bn expan- sion plans. But a Manchester Airport spokesman said: “For a short period of time, there was an errorwith the ANPR camera in the T1 multi storey. “This led to some vehicles
having causing
problems exiting the barriers and caused
congestion.Marshals were on hand to assist customers and to rectify any issues regarding incorrect fees at the barriers. The issue was quick- ly fixed and the system has been working fine since.” He said further con- gestion issues on the Thursday afternoon were caused by a protest carried out by hackney drivers - who are disputing the Terminal Three taxi
rank being
moved to make way for the new drop-off bays.
But minibus driver Gary, 31, from Prest- wich,
insists the
design of the system is at fault. He said: “I drop off at airports all over the country and most charge for drop-off, so I’ve been expect- ing this. “But this is just so badly designed. At Terminal Two they have really thought about it with wide bays and enough room. T1 is just terri- ble. “What annoysme is I got in touch with them(the airport) to warn them before they opened them, telling them it wouldn’t work.” T1 drop-off works whereby passengers are driven up the car park ramp as before, and are dropped off in bays. The driver then continues down a ramp at the other side, with the barri- ers and charging points at the exit. But Gary says the barriers are stag- gered, so if more than two cars line up in front of the first two, you can’t getto the last three. The M.E.N reported that some private hire drivers were passing on the full charges to passen- gers - even though they can apply for a £30 discount card. But Gary argues he shouldn’t have to pay for a card to save his customers money, and says that sometimes
he’ll
charge customers £3 only to end upwith a £4 bill atthe exit.
AUGUST 2018
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