It will now cost £4 to drop a passenger at East Midlands Airport as flights set to start on Sunday

Rapid drop-off fees to set down passengers at East Midlands Airport (EMA) are being increased to £4, the airport has announced.

A spokesperson for East Midlands Airport said: “Few sectors have been hit harder by the COVID-19 pandemic than aviation, travel and tourism. East Midlands Airport is not immune.

”In the course of one weekend back in March, the airport lost all its main passenger income streams. In response, airport staff were furloughed, and costs, fees and charges have all be re-assessed. Included within a review of car parking prices was the decision to increase rapid drop off (RDO) charges from £3 for 10 minutes to £4 for 15 minutes, when passengers return.”

Ryanair is taking a first step to resuming passenger operations at East Midlands Airport with a limited schedule of flights beginning on Sunday 21 June.

Passengers arriving into EMA at 15:20 from Alicante will be the first to step inside the airport’s terminal since COVID-19 lockdown measures, introduced in March, brought an abrupt halt to non-essential passenger air travel. The first scheduled departure will be at 15:45 as the same aircraft returns to Alicante.

A total of 16 Ryanair flights to and from EMA are scheduled until the end of June. However, anyone returning to the UK from overseas must quarantine for 14 days and the current Foreign Office advice remains against non-essential travel. If a review of these measures in late June results in an easing of restrictions, passenger airlines operating out of EMA are keen to resume fuller schedules in July.

Karen Smart, East Midlands Airport’s Managing Director, says: “I am delighted that we will welcome back our first passengers, even if they are few in number, this coming Sunday. This is a really positive development. I am confident that many people across the region will start using their local airport again for a quick and easy get-away to their favourite holiday destinations when conditions allow.

”It may take two to three years before passengers return in the numbers we had pre-COVID, but EMA will always continue to be an important gateway for both people and products.”

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