The free waiting time for motorists at the Newcastle Airport car park has been cut, sparking anger among passengers and taxi drivers. Since June 1 all vehicles are now restricted to 5 minutes in the pick-up and drop-off parking area, before charges of upwards of £1 are imposed.
Taxi drivers have described the reduction from a 10 minute waiting time as unworkable, but airport bosses say extra entry and exit points have been introduced to allow vehicles to move through the car parking more quickly.
One taxi driver told the Echo: 'Giving drivers only 5 minutes is absolutely impractical as they must first locate the passenger and then join the queue to leave the pick-up area. If we can't resolve this issue then the charges will simply have to be passed onto customers, which is something we do not want to do.'
However, George Nesbitt, head of car parking at Newcastle Airport, said: 'The investments we have made [to the parking area] will still enable us to process the same number of people through free of charge. [For taxis] I'm confident that 5 minutes to drop-off is very achievable and 5 minutes to pick-up, if the customer is already waiting, is also achievable.'
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