Gatwick airport has blamed a hike in business rates by Chancellor Rachel Reeves for raising its fee for dropping off passengers outside its terminals to £10.

The new price – which represents a 43% increase from the £7 currently charged – will be implemented from January 6.

That means Gatwick will have the highest drop-off fee across all UK airports by £3.

A spokeswoman for the West Sussex airport said: “This increase in the drop-off charge is not a decision we have taken lightly.

“However, we are facing a number of increasing costs, including a more than doubling of our business rates.

“The increase in the drop-off charge will support wider efforts to encourage greater use of public transport, helping limit the number of cars and reduce congestion at the entrance to our terminals, alo

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