Drive through Gatwick "dropoff" by mistake

I was at Gatwick to collect a friend. I got confused by the road signs, and drove through the dropoff area by mistake.

I drove straight through, came round again, and then parked in short-stay, which I paid for.

The road signs tell you to visit dropoff.gatwickairport.com and I expected there to be some instruction or guidance which makes it explicit what you're paying for, how it all works, and whether you can expect to get stung just for driving through that lane, if you didn't drop anybody off.

Sadly, this link invites you to pay or login, and nothing else.

Can anybody help enlighten me?

Update, almost 2 months after original post:

No ticket has arrived through the post yet =D

airports lgw

Best Answer

You need to pay for the dropoff lane, it works by LPS (License Plate Scanning) and you need to pay it online. I don't see any exception for non-stop passage though (might be worth contacting Gatwick though).

According to this article :

It's 5GBP at minimum for 10min, and 1GBP/min after that with the max being 20min additional

You will need to pay on the day you pass through or the following day (before midnight) to not get the 100GBP charge (reduced to 60GBP if you pay that charge in 14days time)

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Do you get charged for driving through Gatwick drop off?

Charges and how to pay Payment must be made by midnight the day after the visit to drop off passengers at the forecourt. Non-payment will be enforced through Parking Charge Notices at a charge of \xa3100, reduced to \xa360 if paid within 14 days.

How can I avoid the Gatwick drop off charge?

How do I avoid the charge? The long-stay car park offers up to two hours' worth of free parking for anyone who wishes to drop-off or pick up for free. A free shuttle bus operates from the car park to the terminals.

How long can you stay at Gatwick drop off?

Upon entering the drop-off zone, drivers will incur a minimum charge of \xa35 for ten minutes, and a further \xa31 will be charged for each additional minute up to 20 minutes. The maximum charge will be \xa325,and the maximum length of stay will be 30 minutes.

Picking up a Passenger from Gatwick Airport (North Terminal) - 23 August 2021

Sources: Stack Exchange - This article follows the attribution requirements of Stack Exchange and is licensed under CC BY-SA 3.0.

Images: Maria Orlova, Kelly L, Dids, Masha Raymers