The world’s most expensive airport carpark (and it’s not Sydney!)

The cost of airport parking has long been a source of frustration for many travellers but Australian gateways are by no means the most expensive.

Hamad International Airport in Doha recently won best airport in the world but it also has the most expensive carparking. Picture: Karim Jaafar/AFP

The cost of airport parking has long been a bugbear for many travellers but new analysis shows Australian gateways are by no means the most expensive in the world, and certainly not the cheapest.

In fact, Sydney, Melbourne, Brisbane, Gold Coast and Perth Airports rank somewhere in the middle of the pack for parking fees, well below Hamad International in Doha and well above Istanbul’s Sabina Gokcen and Ataturk Airports.

Data compiled by driver education site Zutobi, showed a week’s parking at Hamad cost the equivalent of $404, ahead of London’s Stansted Airport on $383.

Recently named the world’s best airport by Skytrax, Hamad International offered 2540 covered, secure spaces in its long-term car park for up to 60-days.

Abu Dhabi, Barcelona’s El Prat and Berlin’s Tegel Airport also charged in excess of $300 for a week’s parking, with Logan International in Boston and Zurich Airport in Switzerland not far behind.

In comparison, parking for a week at Sydney Airport’s T1 cost $214, or $278 for a “guaranteed space” undercover.

The price was well ahead of most other Australian airports, with charges of $189 for undercover parking at Melbourne Airport, $159 at Gold Coast Airport and $155 in Brisbane. Perth Airport charged $249 for a week’s parking close to the terminal and $109 for outdoor parking with shuttle access.

At the lower end of the price scale, Turkey’s Sabina Gokcen and Ataturk Airports charged under $30 for a week, making them the cheapest options for international airport carparking anywhere in the world.

Los Angeles International (LAX) also made the top ten cheapest parking ports, at $51 a week, along with China’s Wuhan Tianhe on $53, Shanghai’s Hongqiao ($58) and Ninoy Aquina in Manila ($58).

Some like LAX and Dallas Fort Worth Airports significantly reduced parking fees during the pandemic, by 58 and 40 per cent respectively, as did Melbourne Airport.

A week’s parking at Tullamarine now costs as little as $12 a day, or $84 for seven-days, down from $99 pre-Covid-19.

The only catch was the park was not undercover and was serviced by a shuttle bus unlike the more expensive terminal parking.

“What we really wanted to do was give people a choice between value or convenience,” said chief of ground transport Jai McDermott.

“For the price conscious we have plenty of bays available, and for those who want convenience we provide undercover terminal parking.”

Mr McDermott said Melbourne Airport’s location some 20km from the CBD and the current lack of train services, meant plenty of car parks were essential and there were in excess of 26,000 bays on site, 20 per cent more than the next biggest — Perth.

“For us there has to be a balance between offering a competitive price and managing capacity,” he said.

“We can’t have people turning up and not finding a park. We’ll always leave ourselves some capacity for drive-up parks.”

Brisbane Airport was also upping its carpark game from Monday, with a new deal of $55 for 7-days in the international terminal’s outdoor Airpark.

A Brisbane Airport Corporation spokesman said they wanted to ensure Queenslanders travelling overseas had a low-cost parking option close by.