AA Warns That 10,000 Heathrow Travellers a Day Face Hidden ULEZ Charges

A file photograph shows a traffic jam as cars head towards the approach tunnel of Heathrow Airport, west London, on Nov. 26, 2015. Reuters/Peter Nicholls/files

ULEZ and drop-off charges will add £36 to the travel cost of using the UK’s biggest airport, according to a report by the Automobile Association.

In a report on Tuesday, the AA warned that holidaymakers booking late summer flights out of Heathrow are “blind” to the threat of Ultra Low Emission Zone (ULEZ) charges for driving to the airport in older cars.

The ULEZ is an area in which vehicles that do not meet certain emissions standards must pay a daily charge of £12.50 to drive or face fines. It covers four million people, around 44 percent of London’s population.

Mayor of London Sadiq Khan claims his city’s air pollution-cutting scheme is needed as each year 4,000 Londoners “die prematurely each year because of long-term exposure to air pollution, with the greatest number of deaths in outer London boroughs.”

The report noted that from Aug. 29, cars that are not at least Euro 4 petrol models (built before 2005) or Euro 6 diesels (built before September 2015) will have to pay £12.50 a day to enter a ULEZ expanded across all London boroughs.

A sign at the expanded boundary of London’s ULEZ pollution charge zone for older vehicles on Oct. 25, 2021. Yui Mok/PA

ULEZ

More than 107,000 cars a day, not including private hire vehicles, drive to the airport each day, with the AA calculating that at least 10,000 cars a day face extra ULEZ charges.

The AA said that with a daily access charge of £12.50 and the likelihood that many of those cars will either drop off and pick up on separate days or park over a period of more than one day, the cost of using Heathrow airport will be an additional £25 for those with older cars. This is on top of additional fees such as short-stay pick-up or drop-off charges.

The ULEZ is an area in which vehicles that do not meet certain emissions standards must pay a daily charge of £12.50 to drive or face fines. It covers four million people, around 44 percent of London’s population.

The scheme currently covers the areas within London’s North and South Circular roads. It is set to expand to the whole of Greater London from Aug. 29, 2023.

To avoid the ULEZ fee, diesel vehicles, which make up the vast majority of vans—must be Euro 6 standard, which generally covers those registered from 2016.

A delivery van driver or tradesperson entering the zone in an older van every working day will rack up more than £3,100 a year in charges.

Drivers who fail to pay face a £160 penalty each day, which is halved if paid within a fortnight.

Mayor of London Sadiq Khan speaks after being re-elected in the London mayoral election, at the City Hall in London on May 8, 2021. Henry Nicholls/Reuters

‘Blind to the New Tax’

Jack Cousens, head of roads policy for the AA, said: “With ULEZ due to start in late August, we are concerned that more than one in 10 of travellers driving to the UK’s busiest airport are currently blind to the new tax. There is no warning that £25 will be added to the cost of their holiday if they drive a non-compliant car.

“Many holidaymakers will consider the ULEZ expansion to just be a London issue, but the reality is that the new boundaries take in much more than people anticipate. Drivers and taxi firms from outside London will be hit with a hidden charge, so Heathrow, TfL, and travel agents need to ensure they tell holidaymakers about the charge,” he said.

“If people are due to fly from Heathrow after 28 August and are taking their own car, then they should use the TfL vehicle checker to see if they are liable to pay the charge,” added Cousens.

Rebel Against

Hillingdon borough council, which has Heathrow straddling its boundary, has committed to resisting ULEZ. It is part of the five Conservative-led councils that have started a legal challenge over Sadiq Khan’s decision to expand the scheme.

On Friday, in a joint statement, they announced they have launched a judicial review into the Labour mayor’s plan.

The councils said they will challenge the Ulez expansion in the High Court on the grounds that “relevant statutory requirements” were not complied with, expected compliance rates in outer London were not considered, and the proposed scrappage scheme was not consulted on.

A spokesman for the mayor said it would oppose “any challenge to this vital scheme.”

Last week, leader of Bromley Council Colin Smith told The Epoch Times the ULEZ expansion will cause “unfathomable misery.”

“People are struggling to pay their bills at the moment, for all sorts of reasons. And even if this were the right idea, the timing of it is absolutely shocking,” said Smith.

“This is actually something that the government really do need to consider checking in on and stopping this because the misery this is going to cause is just untold, unfathomable, actually nobody can really see the impact this will have,” he said.

A spokesperson for the Mayor of London told The Epoch Times by email: “The Mayor is keen to work with Heathrow to identify what more could be done to support the transition to the Greater London ULEZ for their workforce and visitors alike, and will be seeking a meeting with their Chief Executive to discuss this further.”

PA Media contributed to this report.