Drop-off and Pick-up Zone

£5.50–£7 gets you kerbside at T1, and locals hate it

The Drop-off and Pick-up Zone at Aberdeen T1 sits right by the terminal doors and charges around £5.50–£7.00 for up to 15 minutes. This is the official express drop-off lane, signed as you approach the terminal. It’s pay-on-exit ANPR, so there’s no ticket, just cameras logging your number plate and a payment machine on the way out.

Reviews are blunt: people complain you now have to pay just to stop at the kerb, with some calling the 15‑minute fee “daylight robbery” for what might be a 3–5 minute drop. Drivers needing longer than 15 minutes are pushed toward the short-stay car park, which then adds another set of tariffs on top. There’s no true free forecourt at ABZ, and that’s what most of the gripes focus on.

Because of that, locals point out a workaround: the main long-stay car park near T1 lets you park free for up to 1 hour. Many regulars use this instead of paying the express charge, timing pick-ups via text and only driving to the drop-off lane when the passenger is at the door. Airport guidance still says use short-stay if you need longer than 15 minutes right by the terminal.

What regulars do: they skip the Drop-off and Pick-up Zone entirely for collections. They wait in long-stay on the free hour, track the flight, then swing round to T1 only when the passenger has bags in hand. For early-morning departures, they’ll sometimes still pay the £5.50–£7.00 curb fee to avoid a shuttle from long-stay in the cold.

Tip: agree a “text when at baggage belt” plan, meet at T1 within 10–15 minutes, and you avoid both overstay charges and aimless loops past the express lane.