Global Airport Parking Rates in 2024

The highs and lows of vacation parking fees

Airport parking is an often-overlooked cost when booking a vacation, and can catch many unsuspecting travelers off-guard with unexpected charges. Each airport has its own way of doing things, with some being much more expensive than others. Airports also have different rules for the amount of time you can spend in different lots, which can cause headaches for travelers in a rush to catch their flight.

The best thing you can do to alleviate any stress and concerns is to plan ahead. Check your airport’s website for information on parking rates and rules. This way, you won’t spend too much time and money parking your car when you should be relaxed and ready to get your vacation underway.

With this in mind, we’ve compared each country’s busiest airports, to find out where you will be charged the least for a week’s stay.

Airport Parking Rates

We looked at the largest airport in every country by the number of commercial passengers, trying to find out which has the best value parking. We specifically looked at the weekly parking rate at each airport, collecting the price for the cheapest option. Therefore, we are able to rank the airports in order of least expensive to most expensive.

Airports with the lowest weekly rates

1. Sabiha Gökçen Airport – Istanbul, Turkey $16.05 |₺255.50| minimum weekly rate

The airport with the lowest daily parking rate is Sabiha Gökçen Airport in Istanbul, where a full week’s parking can cost as little as $16.05. That’s $16 very well spent, as weekly parking rates vary wildly depending on the airport and where you park.

2. Istanbul Atatürk Airport – Istanbul, Turkey $19.78 |₺315| minimum weekly rate

Next up is Istanbul Atatürk Airport, the second Turkish airport on our list. The airport is only marginally more expensive than its competitor on the European side of the city, and nearly $9 cheaper than third place.

3. Suvarnabhumi Airport – Bangkok, Thailand $28.60 |฿980| minimum weekly rate

Taking third is one of the biggest airports in South East Asia and one of two airports serving Bangkok. The airport charges a minimum of $28.60 for a week’s parking, nearly twice as cheap as Thailand’s second airport Don Mueang International.

The most expensive airports for weekly parking

Having looked at the cheapest major airports to park at for seven days, we now turn our attention to the most expensive. These are the airports where it will cost you the most to park for a whole week.

1. Hamad International Airport $278.77 |Rial1,015| minimum weekly rate

The most expensive airport for long-term parking is Hamad International Airport, the principal airport in the Qatari capital Doha. Parking here for a whole week will cost you at least $278.77.

2. London Stansted Airport $263.66 |£210| minimum weekly rate

The third most expensive airport is London Stansted Airport, at which parking for a full week will cost you a minimum of $263.66.

3. Abu Dhabi International Airport $228.70 |dh840| minimum weekly rate

Taking third place is Abu Dhabi International Airport, servicing the capital of the United Arab Emirates. Parking at this airport will set travelers back $228.70 for a full week’s parking.

The biggest increases in airport parking rates

1. Hamad International Airport 163.64% increase

This airport servicing the Qatari capital, Doha takes the top spot for the biggest increase in weekly parking fees in its native currency, rising by over 163% to 1,015 Rial, over two and a half times its price of 385 Rial in 2018.

2. São Paulo–Guarulhos International Airport 127.14% increase

Next up is São Paulo–Guarulhos International Airport. Airport parking fees for a week’s stay in São Paulo’s primary international airport have increased from R$140 in 2018 to R$318 in 2022, a 127.14% rise.

3. Frankfurt Airport 99.28% increase

The first European international airport on our list, Frankfurt’s prices for a week’s stay in their cheapest airport parking lot have increased by 99.28% to €137.50. This is just under twice its price in 2018 of €69.

The biggest decreases in airport parking rates

1. Hangzhou Xiaoshan International Airport -69.09%

The airport parking lot with the biggest drop in price for a week’s stay is Hangzhou Xiaoshan International Airport. Serving the city of Hangzhou on China’s eastern shore, weekly parking fees at this airport have decreased from $144.84 in 2018 by nearly 70% to $45.91 in 2022.

2. Brussels Airport -61.43%

Taking second place is this airport just outside of the Belgian capital. Weekly parking fees at Brussels Airport have fallen by 61.43% from €140 in 2018 to only €54 in 2022.

3. Los Angeles International Airport -58.33%

Up next is Los Angeles International Airport. Car parking fees at LA’s main airport have decreased by 58.33% since 2018, now costing travelers a minimum of $35 for a week’s parking, compared to $84 in 2018.

Find the best lot for you

Some airports have very simple parking options, while others have multiple choices for you to make. Your best bet is to research the airport ahead of time, so you can review all of the parking options available.

Remember that some of the less expensive options will have you parking further from the terminals, so you may need to allow for extra time so as not to miss your flight.

Some of the farther away parking options also require you to catch a shuttle, a bus, or even a train to get to the airport. Make sure you find out whether these additional travel requirements are free, and if not, how much they’ll set you back.

Methodology

We wanted to explore how parking rates can vary between different international airports. To do this, we looked at the busiest airports in every country in terms of the number of commercial passengers that use them each year.

We then visited each airport’s website to explore the pricing options. The prices we recordedwere the least you could be charged for a full week’s parking without prior booking. Forairports that did not have this data available, we took the cheapest price for a week’s parkingbetween 12 AM 05/21/2022 and 12 AM 05/28/2022. Data was collected on 05/20/2022. Datafor Stansted Airport is for the dates 10 AM 09/15/2022 to 2 PM 09/22/2022 and wascollected on 07/28/2022. The airports were then ranked for these figures, with the top tenbeing presented and explored in more detail.

Currencies were converted on 05/23/2022 using Google Finance. Currencies for Stansted Airport were converted on 07/28/2022.

A full list of sources can be found here.