Southampton Airport Official Short Stay Car Park

Southampton Airport Short Stay is the airport’s main official self-parking option, located on airport grounds just a 1–3 minute covered walk from the terminal.

The name is misleading. It is not just for brief visits, and pre-booking does not mean paying the wallet-battering prices normally associated with short-stay parking. With Long Stay closed and Southampton being a compact airport, this is effectively the main official car park for trips of any length. In other words: ignore the words “Short Stay.”

How does Short Stay compare?

Short Stay vs Long Stay

At the moment, this is an easy one: Southampton Airport’s Long Stay car park is closed. So there is no cheaper official Long Stay car park lurking somewhere with a bus waiting to whisk you into the terminal.

Short Stay is currently the airport’s main official self-park option for holidays of any length. You park, keep your keys and walk to the terminal in 1–3 minutes.

Short Stay vs Priority Parking

Both are official, on-airport car parks where you park your own vehicle and keep your keys.

Priority Parking gives you:

A walk of around 60 seconds rather than 1–3 minutes;
Wider parking bays

Short Stay is already extremely close, so Priority is mainly worth considering if wider bays matter to you or shaving another minute off the walk feels like money well spent. Neither option is going to leave you needing your hiking boots.

Short Stay vs Meet & Greet

With Short Stay, you find your own space, keep your keys and walk to the terminal.

With Meet & Greet, you hand over your keys and someone parks the car for you. It removes the hunt for a bay and can be useful when travelling with children, lots of luggage or limited mobility.

The sensible choice depends on the price difference. If Meet & Greet is only a little more, the added convenience may be worthwhile. If it costs considerably more, Short Stay already gets you remarkably close without surrendering your keys.

Security

The car park has entry and exit barriers, 24-hour attendants, CCTV and regular staff patrols. It also has the Park Mark award for security.

Directions

- Leave M27 at junction 5.

- Take the exit for the A335 (signposted Eastleigh/Southampton airport).

- At the roundabout take the second exit towards the airport.

- Take the first left at the next roundabout.

- Follow signs for the Short Stay car park.

Arrival procedure

- On arrival at the car park, your car registration will be read and recognised automatically.

- The barrier will lift and you’ll be given a ticket. Please make sure you keep it safe as you’ll need it when you return.

- Park up in any available space, keep your keys and walk to the terminal.

Return procedure

On your return, please follow signs for the Short Stay car park when you leave the terminal. On your way out, put your ticket into the exit barrier and the barrier will lift.

Disabled facilities

- There are designated Blue Badge bays for travellers with reduced mobility on the ground floor of the car park but please know that you’ll need to display your badge while you’re away.

- If you need to take your badge with you, please show it to the staff in the car park office on the ground floor before you leave.

- There are also Special Assistance Call Points linked to the terminal’s service desk to request help when you’re at the car park.

Additional information

- This service is operated by Southampton Airport.

- The car park is undercover and within walking distance of the terminal. It's a self-park car park so you keep your keys.

- When returning late, the car park offers a grace period of 2 hours, at their discretion. Any longer than this and you'll be charged the car park's standard rate of £15 per day (subject to change).

- Most standard cars (without trailers/not commercial vehicles) will be accepted at the car park as long as they fit under the 2.2m barrier and fit in a standard-size parking bay (2.4m x 4.8m).

- There are 4 charging points for electric vehicles on the first floor of the car park which operates on a first-come, first-served basis.

Short Stay Non-Flexible

Bookings for Short Stay Non-Flexible cannot be amended or cancelled and will not be refunded.