Heathrow management has outlined full details of its solution to accommodate hundreds of private hire and chauffeur vehicles at the airport, at a recent industry event.
Sustainable Travel Manager for Heathrow Airport, Theo Panayi announced the ‘Authorised Vehicle Area’ (AVA) will be open to the industry on 15th June 2016 and will cost only £1 per hour for those staying up to 5 hours, with a maximum stay of 12 hours.
Speaking at the Licensed Private Hire Car Association general meeting in London last week (2nd June), Theo explained the AVA has been created following a high number of complaints about anti-social behaviour from drivers in urban areas in the vicinity of London Heathrow. Due to the rapidly increasing number of drivers being licensed by TfL, many are using residential streets to park, leave rubbish and use verges as public toilets.
Open from 5am to 11pm everyday, the AVA can park up to 700 PH vehicles and facilities will include toilets, smoking shelter, catering facilities and waste bins which are all managed by a team of staff from Heathrow airport. Drivers will have to pay on foot at machines operated by APCOA.
Any drivers using the facilities may be asked to show their appropriate license to operate by staff on site, the industry is being warned that drivers will be asked to leave if they cannot produce their documents.
Strict measures are also being put in place to make sure drivers only pick-up passengers from the short stay terminal car parks. Management are warning extra patrols will be carried out to ensure passengers do not wait at the drop-off points, and officials will be turning away passengers who are told to do so by drivers.
Heathrow says the AVA is being introduced simply as a holding area for licensed drivers waiting to meet a client at a pre-arranged location in the airport, drivers cannot meet clients within the AVA and can simply return when they have another job at the airport.
The AVA is located on the Northern Perimeter Road, TW6 2RL.
Useful Links:
Parking Prices
Heathrow.com/ava-pricing
Frequently asked questions:
Heathrow.com/ava-faqs
AVA terms and conditions
Heathrow.com/ava-termsandconditions
Heathrow Airport bylaws
Heathrow.com/byelaws
