On-airport (official) parking
Run by or for the airport on airport land. Every car park listed in the main table on our airport pages is an official one, named as the airport names it.
- Pros: shortest or most predictable transfers, airport security and patrols, and many official car parks hold the police-backed Safer Parking (Park Mark) award.
- Cons: often the most expensive choice, especially if you turn up without booking.
Off-airport parking
Independent companies run car parks a few miles away, with their own minibuses, or offer meet and greet with off-site storage.
- Pros: frequently cheaper, sometimes with more flexible booking.
- Cons: transfers can take longer, standards vary, and a few rogue operators have left travellers with damaged cars or unexpected charges — Gatwick publishes guidance on avoiding them.
How to decide
- Compare the total cost — including any transfer and the time it takes.
- Check the operator properly: Is my car park legit?
- If an airport runs an approved-operator list, start there — Gatwick's Approved Operators Scheme, for example, requires operators to declare all car storage sites, hold British Parking Association approval and belong to Trading Standards' Buy With Confidence scheme.
We only list an off-airport operator on an airport page once we have checked it on the operator's own website.