
Revealed: Where your airport parking cash really ends up
British holidaymakers are handing almost £1m a day to Australian pensioners and foreign investment firms as they battle extortionate airport parking charges, The Telegraph can reveal.
Drivers paid £555m to park at Heathrow, Stansted, Manchester and East Midlands airports in 2024 – according to published annual accounts.
As major investors, Australian pension funds alone made over £150m, which expert Mike Ambery said would flow into the pockets of retirees.
The four airports received £1.5m a day from drivers over a 12-month period, with £856,000 of that earned by overseas shareholders in Europe, Canada, the Middle East, Australia and Asia.
In its 2024 annual report, Heathrow confirmed car parking revenue of £185m for the calendar year.
Drivers aren't charged for the first 30 minutes in long stay parking, but can expect to pay £9.40 for up to two hours, £46.80 for a full day and £37.40 for each additional 24 hours.
Pre-booking is cheaper, but a week in Heathrow's park and ride car park can still cost £118. Parking closest to the terminal could set a driver back £256.40 over seven days.
The airport is owned and run by Heathrow Airport Holdings, which in turn is owned by consortium FGP Topco Limited.
This is led by private investment house Ardian – which holds 22.6pc – and contains investors from Qatar, Saudi Arabia, Singapore, Spain and Canada.
Pension fund Australian Retirement Trust also owns 11.2pc, while the Universities Superannuation Scheme, with 2.1pc, is the only UK shareholder.
Manchester, Stansted and East Midlands airports are owned by the Manchester Airports Group. According to its annual report, it raked in £370.3m in parking fees for 2023-2024.
Drivers can pay up to £268 for four days at Stansted, but this can drop to £59.99 with pre-booking. Many services at Manchester and East Midlands are only available in advance.
Manchester City Council and IFM Global Infrastructure Fund, owned by 15 Australian pension funds, both hold an equal 35.5pc share in the airports.
This brings the total share held by Australian pension funds across all four airports to 29pc, yielding around £152m a year in car parking revenue, or £417,000 a day.
Mr Ambery, of Standard Life, said there was a lot of successful foreign investment in UK private markets.
He said: 'Hats off, Australians are making the right global investments and this is a good example of how they do it in the UK.
'Every time someone parks in a UK airport, or uses an M6 toll road or something like that, pensions are going up and that money is flowing through to an Australian retiree.
'We absolutely don't want to miss out on opportunities in the UK, but we shouldn't be envious. We need to be investing in the UK as well as overseas and I think we do take our opportunities, but it's a good example of the UK investment that the Government wants us to ramp up.
'This is the reason why we need to consolidate pension funds, because smaller funds can't go and make these kinds of investments at scale. Australian, Qatari and other overseas funds can and it's paying back really well.'
Why are UK profits going overseas?
Labour is currently working on plans to push pension funds to invest more in the UK and has not ruled out making it mandatory.
When the idea first emerged, experts warned it would move providers into riskier investments and put pensions in jeopardy.
However, it's understood that Rachel Reeves is ready to announce a voluntary code that will see the largest providers invest a minimum of 5pc of assets in private UK funds as she pursues economic growth.
Paul Leandro, of Barnett Waddingham, said: 'Where the Australians have been smart is that they're early shareholders in asset managers. The advantage there is they're effectively scaling up their scale, pooling together to create an even larger fund that gives them deeper pockets and enables them to invest in even bigger projects.
'Government policymakers are probably looking at this and thinking 'Why are the profits from UK airports and infrastructure going overseas?'
'That's likely part of the motivation behind the Government's current push for UK pension funds to invest more money domestically.'
Heathrow Airport also made £274m in concessions from retailers, £89m from catering and £95m from the Heathrow Express – although total revenue fell slightly from £3.7bn in 2023 to £3.6bn last year.
Manchester Airports Group revenue increased from £1bn to £1.2bn during the same period.
A Manchester Airports Group spokesman said: 'Revenue generated from parking, retail and other sources of income allows us to maintain and develop high-quality infrastructure, support affordable air travel and invest in local communities.
'IFM has shown a strong, long-term commitment to Manchester Airports Group, providing vital capital for major expansion projects that enhance the passenger experience, create local jobs and drive economic growth.
'While headquartered in Australia, its fund represents working people saving for retirement around the world – including millions here in the UK.'
Hashtags

Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles


Reuters
16 minutes ago
- Reuters
Long Harbour to launch takeover bid for UK's PRS REIT, Sky News reports
June 11 (Reuters) - UK-based real estate investment management firm Long Harbour has secured financing to launch a 700 million pound ($944.51 million) takeover bid for PRS REIT (PRSR.L), opens new tab, Sky News reported on Wednesday. Reuters could not immediately verify the report. ($1 = 0.7411 pounds)


The Guardian
16 minutes ago
- The Guardian
BT considers takeover move for struggling rival TalkTalk
BT is weighing up a potential takeover of the rival telecoms and broadband company TalkTalk, which is struggling amid financial difficulties and a customer exodus. The UK's biggest broadband provider is understood to have discussed the strategic possibility of buying TalkTalk. However, it is understood no approach or talks have been held with TalkTalk, and bankers have not been asked to draw up takeover plans. TalkTalk, founded by Sir Charles Dunstone, is the UK's fourth-largest telecoms group, with about 3.2 million customers. However, the group lost 400,000 customers in the 12 months to February, and last year Dunstone and other shareholders were forced to inject £235m to shore up its finances. TalkTalk has struggled since it was taken private by Toscafund, a London-based hedge fund, in a £1.1bn leveraged buyout that added £527mn of debt to its balance sheet in 2021. It now has about £1.2bn in debt on its balance sheet. A BT-TalkTalk tie-up would give the combined group control of about 36% of the UK broadband market. 'Companies are always looking at rivals in their sector, particularly distressed assets,' said one City source discussing the potential takeover plans, which were first reported by the Telegraph. In recent weeks it has emerged that TalkTalk has fallen behind on payments with supplies and partners including Openreach and CityFibre. According to estimates from New Street Research, TalkTalk pays its broadband suppliers more than £60m each month. The Salford-based company cut 350 jobs last year as part of a wider plan to strip £120m out of the business. If a takeover offer from BT were to crystallise, it could face objections from rivals and an investigation from the UK competition regulator. Virgin Media O2 has also previously considered making an approach for TalkTalk. Sign up to Business Today Get set for the working day – we'll point you to all the business news and analysis you need every morning after newsletter promotion BT and TalkTalk declined to comment.


Reuters
22 minutes ago
- Reuters
London stocks gain ahead of spending review, US data
June 11 (Reuters) - London's FTSE 100 edged up towards an all-time high on Wednesday, as investors awaited a domestic public spending review and crucial U.S. inflation data scheduled in the day. The benchmark FTSE 100 (.FTSE), opens new tab was up 0.1%, coming close to an intraday record high. The mid-cap FTSE 250 (.FTMC), opens new tab was up 0.4% as of 0913 GMT. All eyes on the day were on Finance Minister Rachel Reeves' speech, where she will divide up more than 2 trillion pounds ($2.7 trillion) of public spending aimed at stimulating the British economy. Homebuilders and household goods stocks (.FTNMX402020), opens new tab gained 2.8% to hit a more than seven month-high, with Vistry (VTYV.L), opens new tab up 9%, Crest Nicholson (CRST.L), opens new tab gaining 5.5% and Bellway (BWY.L), opens new tab advancing 3% ahead of the speech. Most sectors were higher in the market, though heavyweight energy shares (.FTNMX601010), opens new tab weighed down 0.6%. Investors also awaited a key U.S. inflation reading for any signs that President Donald Trump's erratic tariff policies had started to show their impact on the economy. Representatives from the U.S. and China late on Tuesday agreed on a framework to put their trade truce back on track and remove some export restrictions from both sides. The agreement, however, is pending approval from the countries' leaders. Any signs of the deal coming into effect will be taken in stride by markets that have been grappling with the uncertainty created by an ever-changing U.S. trade policy and its impact on global economic growth. Ibstock sank 12.8% to the bottom of the FTSE 250, after warning of a hit to its adjusted EBITDA outlook for 2025. Ricardo shares jumped 25% to their highest level since early January after Canada-based WSP Global ( opens new tab said it would acquire British environmental and engineering consulting firm for about 363.1 million pounds ($489.6 million) including debt. Quilter (QLT.L), opens new tab gained 5.6%, among the toppers on the FTSE 100, after UBS upgraded the wealth manager's stock to "buy" from "neutral".