THE ISSUE of drop-off charges at Glasgow Airport reached the Scottish Parliament just days after the measure was branded a “joke” by motorists.

Pauline McNeill MSP asked First Minister Nicola Sturgeon to condemn the introduction of a £2 charge, referring to it as a “money making venture”.

Ms Sturgeon said that while she understands the public’s concern, the decision remains in the hands of the airport.

She added that following the local elections, the councils will have the ability to access projects to Glasgow Airport through the City Deal.

Tensions over the charge came to a head on Tuesday as queues to get into the airport stretched onto the M8, with some travellers left waiting for half an hour.

Issues were said to be caused by the the wider road network and a high volume of traffic.

Ahead of FMQ’s, Labour’s transport spokesperson Neil Bibby MSP also called for the charges to be dropped

He said: “The reason for this charge was to tackle congestion around the airport but it seems after this week’s shambles to be having the opposite effect. It is clear this move does not have public support.

“Many of my constituents are on low incomes and this just looks like a blatant money making exercise by the airport.

“The only way to get to Glasgow Airport is by road so people will continue to travel to the airport by car and the airport must know this. I can see how this ‘drop off tax’ will make the airport a lot of money but fail to see this will tackle the congestion issues.”

The £2 charge was introduced last week despite backlash from the public and a petition signed by more than 10,000 people.

A spokesman for Glasgow Airport said: “We apologise for the congestion customers experienced on Tuesday morning.

“The new pick-up and drop-off area worked as anticipated, however, there were issues with the wider road network.

“This was due to a number of reasons namely an extremely high volume of traffic accessing the airport during a short period of time and familiarisation with the new layout.

“Together with our traffic consultants we have since put temporary measures in place and once we are content with these measures we will make them permanent.”

The introduction of charges is the final step in a wider scheme of works to reduce congestion and improve the flow of traffic on the airport’s road network

The previous drop-off area was described as “no longer fit for purpose” as it was implemented at a time when the airport was carrying 6.5 million passengers.

As footfall now approaches the 10 million mark, three different locations for drop-off have been trialled.

The airport spokesman added: “Despite most airports of our size having similar arrangements in place for many years we have resisted introducing a drop-off charge, however, we firmly believe that having exhausted all possible alternatives and taken on board the advice of traffic experts, our introduction of this new £8 million facility is the correct thing to do. “