Terminal Drop-Off Charge

The £5 charge applies each time your vehicle enters a terminal drop-off zone – £5 for every single visit. Payments can only be made by card. Cash and cheque payments are not accepted. 

You have three ways to pay. You can pay online or by automated telephone service or automatically once you’ve set up autopay.

If you are paying after using a drop-off zone, payment must be made by midnight on the next day.

When you pay in advance, your prepayments last for 12 months. Any prepaid funds that remain unused 12 months from the date of purchase will expire.

You cannot pay for drop-offs at an airport ticket machine or in the terminal drop-off zones. There are no barriers; you incur a charge when you enter the drop-off zone.

Non-payment will result in an £80 Parking Charge Notice (PCN), reduced to £40 if paid within 14 days. Pay a PCN online.

If you have any questions or require a refund, please email APCOA at; refunds.heathrowdropoff@apcoa.com, chat to an agent via webchat or call customer services on 0333 200 7459. 

Free drop-off is available at Heathrow’s Park & Ride car parks, previously known as Long Stay, where passengers can take a free bus transfer to the terminal.

All taxis (black cabs) and private-hire vehicles must pay the £5 Terminal Drop-Off Charge each time they enter the terminal drop-off zones. Drop-offs can be made for free in Heathrow’s Park & Ride car parks, where passengers can take a free bus transfer to the terminal.

We strongly recommend that taxi drivers (black cab), private-hire vehicle drivers and operators register for a business account. Business accounts are free and allow drivers to set up and benefit from autopay functionality. By having a business account, drivers can view all their drop-offs and reconcile registered blue-badge drop-offs by passengers. Drivers can also pay any time before their drop-off or by midnight the next day. To register a business account, please use the link below.

If you are a private-hire driver and wish to wait for a passenger prior to picking up from a Short-Stay car park you can do so at the Heathrow Authorised Vehicle Area (AVA). 

Blue badge holders arriving by taxi can apply for a 100% discount up to 3 months in advance, during the trip or by midnight the next day using the taxi vehicle registration number. No charge should be added to the meter if a taxi (black cab) has been registered for a Blue Badge concession. 

Passenger pick-ups should not be made from the dedicated areas for drop-offs on the terminal forecourts and should be made from our Short Stay or Heathrow Park & Ride car parks.

Find out more information about passenger pick-ups below.

Terminal Drop-Off Charges apply to the passenger drop-off zones in front of the terminal buildings – zones also known as the terminal forecourts. There are signs on the roads in and around the airport to let drivers know the chargeable zones. A £5 charge applies each time you drive into a terminal drop-off zone. We use automatic number-plate recognition (ANPR) cameras to record vehicle movements. There are no barriers; you incur a charge when you enter the drop-off zone. The charge can be pre-paid online or by phone or paid for after each visit. Payments following a visit must be made by midnight on the following day. We issue Parking Charge Notices (PCNs) to vehicle owners who do not pay their Terminal Drop-Off Charge.

The Terminal Drop-Off Charge applies 24 hours, 365 days a year.

You must not leave your vehicle unattended in the terminal drop-off zones. Vehicles left unattended will be removed by the police.   

If you hold a valid UK or European Economic Area (EEA) Blue Badge, you can apply for a 100% discount even if you don’t drive or own a vehicle. You apply for a Blue Badge discount for the vehicle that drops you off – a taxi or a friend’s car, for example.

Alternatively, the first 2-hours of parking are free of charge for Blue Badge holders in our Heathrow Park & Ride car parks, formerly known as Long Stay parking. Please use the call point on entry and state your Blue Badge number and registration to the operator, on exit please use the call point and state your registration to exit. Only valid for UK and EEA blue badge holders.

Blue Badge holders can apply for their discounted drop-off up to three months before or by midnight the day after their drop-off.

The following information will need to be provided:

• Vehicle registration number
• Drop-off date
• Your Blue Badge number
• Your Email address
• Your Flight number
• Images of the front and rear of your Blue Badge

If your application is successful, we'll send you an email.

A Blue Badge application applies to a single drop-off. Each drop-off requires a new application. We will issue a Parking Charge Notice if you don't use a Blue Badge discount for your drop-off and fail to pay the charge. 

The vehicle in which the Blue Badge holder is dropped off must not be left unattended in the terminal drop-off zones. Vehicles left unattended will be removed by the police.   

If you are a Blue Badge holder arriving by taxi, you apply for the 100% discount using the taxi's registration number. You can apply in advance, during the trip or by midnight the day after your drop-off. Confirmation of a successful application will be sent by email. The taxi driver can check that the Blue Badge holder discount has been applied by matching the Blue Badge holder's receipt ID with their receipt ID. They can do this online within their business account's 'Trip Management' section. 

If you have applied for the Blue Badge concession with the taxi vehicle registration number ahead of your journey, please let your driver know at the start of the journey so the drop-off charge is not added to the meter. 

If you are a Blue Badge holder who doesn’t have access to apply for the 100% discount online, you can apply by calling customer services on 0333 200 7459. Please note that you must apply at least 14 days before dropping off.

Exemptions

You don't have to pay the Terminal Drop-Off Charge if you are driving a Heathrow permitted operational vehicle or a vehicle recorded at the Driver and Vehicle Licensing Agency (DVLA) in either of these categories:

• Emergency service vehicles, such as police, ambulances and fire engines
• Military vehicles

These exemptions will be applied automatically to your vehicle. You do not need to apply for an exemption.

Discounts

A 100% discount will apply to your vehicle if it is recorded at the DVLA in one of these categories:

• Roadside recovery vehicle – have a taxation class of 'recovery vehicle'
• Two-wheeled motorbikes
• Buses or coaches*
  

* There are height restrictions on our forecourts. If you are dropping off a group of departing passengers by bus or coach, there are coach drop-off bays in each terminal.

If you've booked your vehicle for Heathrow Valet Parking, you also qualify for a 100% discount on the Terminal Drop-Off Charge.

All these discounts will be applied automatically to your vehicle. You do not have to apply for them.

There are no exemptions or discounts for electric vehicles.

The charge, which was proposed in 2020, is part of our updated Surface-Access and sustainability plans. The scheme helps to prevent a car-led recovery and to reduce airport-related traffic.

Income from the charge contributes to new sustainable transport initiatives at the airport, with additional revenue helping lower overall airport charges. The pandemic has severely affected the airport; the charge allows us to continue investing in congestion-reducing, Surface-Access projects and protecting jobs at Heathrow.

Heathrow was the last major UK airport to introduce drop-off charges. Similar drop-off charges were already in place at all nine of the UK’s other major airports. The Terminal Drop-Off Charge replaces our previous plans to introduce a Heathrow Ultra-Low Emissions Zone (HULEZ) by 2022 and a Heathrow Vehicle Access Charge (HVAC).

Refunds

To apply for a refund, chat with an agent on webchat , send an email to  refunds.heathrowdropoff@apcoa.com or call customer services on 0333 200 7459.

Complaints

If you have a complaint about the Terminal Drop-Off Charges, email APCOA at complaints.heathrowdropoff@apcoa.com.

If you see a £1 hold on your bank or credit-card account – known as a pre-authorisation – it’s a temporary hold of funds. The pre-authorisation is not a charge, just a temporary hold to show that the funds will soon be released. We use the hold to check that your payment method is valid and you have sufficient funds available to pay for your Terminal Drop-Off Charge.

If you have any questions or queries to do with your account or payment, please contact APCOA via one of the following contact channels:

• Customer Services webchat: Live chat with an agent 
• Customer Services phone number: 0333 200 7459
• Automated telephone payment line: 0330 008 5600
• General Enquiries: generalenquiries.heathrowdropoff@apcoa.com

Hours of operation

Customer Services: Monday to Friday 08:00 – 20:00 and Saturday and Sunday 08:00 – 17:00;  closed on public holidays.

Christmas opening hours:
24 December - 09:00 -  13:00
25 December - Closed
26 December - Closed