Britain has some of the most expensive airport parking charges in the world, with peak-time charges close to double those of other major international airports.

Heathrow’s Terminal 4 is £12 for between one and two hours at peak-time, and a two hour stay is £11 at Luton and £10 at Stansted and Gatwick. This is compared to £5.50 at New York’s JFK airport and £6.60 at Paris’ Charles de Gaulle.

Glasgow and Edinburgh airports are also high at £9 and £8.90 respectively.

The only other major international airport close to British airport parking charges is Sydney, with a one to two hour stay costing £11.

The reason for Heathrow Airport’s peak tariffs is to help improve the journey times for passengers travelling to Terminal 4 between 0600 and 0800, and 1830 to 2030, with free time at the longer stay car park across the road.

A spokeswoman said: “We made the decision to make the long stay car park just a few meters across the road from Terminal 4 free for the first two hours with a bus connecting to the terminal every 10 minutes.

“The reason for this change is because Terminal 4 has been reaching over capacity during these hours with the volume of friends and family being brought to meet arriving and departing passengers – this is specific to Terminal 4 only.

“Without our intervention, the vehicle queue to the car park reaches back to the motorway, putting passengers at risk of missing their flight while impacting the safe flow of traffic.”