AN OPEN letter has been signed by 79 Lancashire County Councillors objecting to new parking charges at Manchester Airport.

Last month, Manchester became the latest in a string of UK Airports to introduce parking charges in the 'drop-off' zone, an area which was previously free to drive in to.

Also refereed to as the 'kiss and fly zone', drivers dropping off travellers at any of the airport's terminals must now pay £3 for five minutes or £4 for 10 minutes.

Airport bosses say the charges are aimed at easing congestion but 79 Lancashire councillors have disputed the need for the charges saying the impact on travel times in an unnecessary addition to people's journeys.

The letter said: "We are writing to you on behalf of our residents in Lancashire to request that the Manchester Airport Group reviews and considers removing the introduction of car park charges to drop off customers at the airport.

"This is impacting on the residents and commuters of Lancashire adversely with many spending the beginning of their trips stuck in queues lasting up to 30 minutes just to enter the airport."

Despite the new need to pay to use the drop off zone directly outside the terminal, a spokesperson for the airport has confirmed that a free drop off area is still available, although it is located outside of the airport and a shuttle bus must then be used to travel to your terminal.

The open letter also stated that councillors recognised resident's concerns about the free drop-off area, saying it was 'not viable for people with young children or when passengers have issues with mobility or walking long distances, even with the shuttle service'.

Hyndburn Labour councillor, Noordad Aziz, was one of the councillors to dispute the charges, saying many residents had been in touch with him about the new system in place at the airport.

He said: "I have signed, along with many other East Lancashire councillors, an open letter written by County Councillor Azhar Ali that has been sent to the Manchester Airport Chief Executive asking for a review and to consider removing the charge and to work with us in ways to reduce vehicle traffic at the airport.

"The new policy is adding unnecessary time to people's journey as well as causing congestion in getting in to the airport and then also exiting the airport which is then causing people to incur an additional exit charge."

A Manchester Airport spokesman, said: “The new drop off charges were brought in as part of a wider plan to tackle the crippling congestion directly outside our terminals and are similar to those introduced at the vast majority of UK airports in recent years.

"These areas are constrained and were not designed to handle the number of vehicles they do today, coupled with high volumes of recirculation at peak times. 

"As part of our plans, we have provided a free drop off area that has frequent shuttle busses to our terminals. It is immediately next to a site used by hundreds of thousands of customers a year for long stay car parking and journey times are between five and seven minutes.

"As with all new systems, we have needed to respond to operational issues as and when they arise. This includes a higher number of vehicles using our car parks for pick up than we have seen in previous years.

"To ensure congestion does not build up in these areas, we ask drivers to park in the dedicated pick up bays, as opposed to stopping in running lanes to collect their passengers.

"It is also important parking tokens are validated at our pay stations, as opposed to at the exit barriers. 

"To make this process smoother, we have invested in extra pay stations and improved signage."