Car Parking Stansted.co.uk

You have a few choices for Stansted airport parking if you decide you want to drive to the airport to catch your flight. There are three different types of parking service available at the airport and you pay more the less time you want to spend getting to and from stansted airport terminal.

The long stay is the cheapest option but the long stay car parks at stansted are some way from the terminal and the bus journey takes about 20 minutes  so with the time it takes to park then make your way to one of the bus stops follwed by waiting for one of the fairly frequent buses and the journey to the terminal you should allow 40 minutes to an hour to your journey for the parking at stansted and travel to the terminal. Currently charging around £8.90 for 24 hours parking.

The mid stay car parks at stansted are more expensive but just 10 mins or so from the airport terminal. Frequent bus services and the short journey time mean you can probably allow around 30 minutes for parking and the journey to the stansted terminal building. Currently charging around £12.50 for a 24 hour stay.

The short stay car parks are very convenient but also very expensive. The short stay car parks at stansted airport are located right in front of the terminal building  and you can park and be in the terminal in just 5 minutes if you walk reasonably briskly. The car parking services at stansted charge you for the convenience and you can hardly find a parking sport before your ticket has clocked up a couple of pounds in charges. If you are collecting friends or family from the airport you can expect to pay several pounds in short stay car park charges no matter how quickly you collect them. If the flight is delayed for a significant amount of time you might do well to drive off to the services on the M11 which is only a mile away and wait there for an hour or two. It will save you money and the coffee is cheaper too.

The final official option is for valet parking at the short stay car parking area.  This is a very expensive option and while the service appears to be excellent you are paying a premium for the service. Currently around £50 for a 24 hour stay.

There are a few alternatives to parking at the airport. Many towns have bus services to Stansted Airport and Taxis are another option.

The best option might be to get a friend or relative to drive you to the airport. You can always return the favour another time.

There are also companies that will collect your car from you at the airport and take it away to park elsewhere while you are away. They will bring your car back to the airport on your return. It costs a bit more but the convenience is probaly worth it.

There is a very good chance that you will pay more to park your car at Stansted Airport than you will pay for your flights. Ridiculous as it is, it costs more to park your car of a piece of tarmac in a car park which requires no mechanical maintenence, fuel or anything else, for a few days than it does to have a modern airliner costing millions, the maintenence of the aircraft, ground crew, airport landing fees, the works.

Don’t ask me why this is because there is no way it can be justified. It is the airport owners and their official parking firms that are ripping you off. It comes as no suprise to see that BAA have always allowed Members of Parliament to park for free at the airport as this means the MPs are less aware of how consumers are being ripped off with parking charges. It is a disgraise but I guess this is what you get with a monopoly on London’s airports which is what BAA has.

So, you know you are being ripped of for parking at Stansted Airport so what is your best course of action?

Choose your car parks. There are three main car parking areas. Short Stay, Medium Stay and Long Stay. Each are progresively cheaper but are further away from the airport but the car park coach services are actually very good so just allow extra time for the transfer.

If you are dropping friends or relatives off at stansted airport the you don’t need to pay at the car parks. You are allowed to drop them off in front of the terminal. When you arrive at the airport entrance roundabout you should take the road up to departures and you can briefly stop there to drop off your passengers.

The extra security difficulties at Stansted Airport are now over and everything is back to normal. Parking will be starting to get a bit busier now with the school holidays starting. The short stay car parks are getting quite full.