London’s Heathrow Airport, for most of recent memory Europe’s busiest, has lost passengers and money since the pandemic, and is looking for ways to make up on both. The airport says it has lost £2.9 billion in the pas 18 months.
Starting in October, it is adding a £5 fee for anyone dropped off directly at its terminals, a fee that will apply to private cars as well as cabs and Ubers. The fee can be avoided only be dropping passengers at the remote parking lots, from which they can take a shuttle to the terminal, reversing the procedure for pickups, which are already not allowed at the terminal. The airport expects to take in about £100 million more per year—unless it succeeds in driving traffic away from the terminals.
Some other UK airports, including Manchester and Gatwick have already imposed similar fees.
The other major thrust by the airports is to increase air traffic by removing the restrictions and test or quarantine requirements as they apply now to fully-vaccinated travelers, making travel to and through the airport less attractive.
UPDATE
It appears Heathrow has had one of its wishes partly granted; Transport Secretary Grant Schapps announced today that quarantine would be scrapped for U.S. and EU travelers who are fully vaccinated.