Parking is the cost travellers forget to budget for. You compare fares down to the last fifty rand, then hand over R95 a day at the boom gate without having checked. At South Africa's regional airports the rates are published, they are the same across six airports, and they are low enough that a park-and-fly usually beats an e-hailing round trip — provided you pick the right lot and avoid the drop-off lane.
Every figure on this page comes from the Airports Company South Africa parking tariff schedule for 2025/26. Where ACSA does not publish something, this page says so rather than filling the gap.
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Which airports this covers
ACSA publishes one shared tariff for its six regional airports. All six appear on VistaVoyage as route origins, so the parking cost slots straight into the trip you are already pricing.
| Airport | City (code) | Flights | Long-stay band published |
|---|---|---|---|
| Chief Dawid Stuurman International | Gqeberha (PLZ) | Routes from Gqeberha | Yes |
| King Phalo | East London (ELS) | Routes from East London | Yes |
| George Airport | George (GRJ) | Routes from George | Not published |
| Bram Fischer International | Bloemfontein (BFN) | Routes from Bloemfontein | Not published |
| Kimberley Airport | Kimberley (KIM) | Routes from Kimberley | Not published |
| Upington International | Upington (UTN) | Routes from Upington | Not published |
ACSA's schedule labels the Gqeberha airport "King Dawid Stuurman" and the Bloemfontein airport "Bram Fisher"; the official names are Chief Dawid Stuurman International and Bram Fischer International.
Open parking rates
Uncovered bays, cheapest option, fine for anything up to a few days. Identical at all six airports.
| Duration | Cost | Effective rate |
|---|---|---|
| 0–1 hour | R20 | R20/hour |
| 1–2 hours | R25 | R12.50/hour |
| 2–3 hours | R28 | R9.30/hour |
| 3–4 hours | R30 | R7.50/hour |
| 4–12 hours | R45 | from R3.75/hour |
| 12–24 hours | R95 | R95/day |
| Thereafter | R50 per 12 hours | R100/day |
Shaded parking rates
Covered bays. Worth it in Upington and Kimberley in midsummer, where a car left in the open all day becomes genuinely unpleasant to get into.
| Duration | Cost | Premium over open |
|---|---|---|
| 0–1 hour | R25 | +R5 |
| 1–2 hours | R34 | +R9 |
| 2–3 hours | R38 | +R10 |
| 3–4 hours | R48 | +R18 |
| 4–12 hours | R65 (R70 at Upington) | +R20 / +R25 |
| 12–24 hours | R140 | +R45 |
| Thereafter | R70 per 12 hours | +R20 per 12 hours |
Upington is the only airport of the six that differs, charging R70 rather than R65 in the four-to-twelve-hour shaded band.
Drop-off lane — the expensive mistake
The drop-off lane is free for five minutes and gets costly fast. It is priced to keep the kerb moving, not to be used as short-term parking.
| Time in the drop-off lane | Cost |
|---|---|
| 0–5 minutes | Free |
| 6–20 minutes | R25 |
| 21–40 minutes | R48 |
| 41–60 minutes | R65 |
| Thereafter | R60 per 12 hours |
Long stay, and the pricing quirk worth knowing
ACSA publishes a long-stay band for two of the six regional airports on the 2025/26 schedule. The bands as published are:
| Band | Cost | Per day |
|---|---|---|
| 0–3 days | R420 | R140/day |
| 4 days | R248 | R62/day |
| 5 days | R310 | R62/day |
| Thereafter | R62 per 24 hours | R62/day |
At the four airports with no published long-stay band, parking beyond twenty-four hours simply continues at R50 per twelve hours in open parking, or R70 per twelve hours shaded. A five-day trip in open parking works out around R495.
OR Tambo, Cape Town and King Shaka
The three big airports are a different structure entirely — multiple parkades, basements, pre-booked online rates and separate coach decks, with rates that vary by which parkade you land in rather than one shared sheet.
We are not publishing per-parkade rands for those three here. ACSA's published schedule sets out several parkade tables per airport, and matching each table to the right terminal with certainty is not something we can do from the document alone. Quoting the wrong parkade's rate would cost you real money at the boom gate.
Is parking worth it on your trip?
The honest answer depends on trip length and how far you live from the airport. Some worked sums at the regional rate:
| Trip | Open parking | Shaded parking |
|---|---|---|
| Day return, back within 12 hours | R45 | R65 |
| Overnight (24 hours) | R95 | R140 |
| Long weekend (3 days) | R285 | R420 |
| Week away (7 days) | R695 | R980 |
A week in shaded parking at R980 is real money — often more than a domestic one-way fare. At that length, a lift from family or a return e-hailing trip usually wins unless the airport is genuinely far out. For a day return at R45, parking wins almost every time.
If you are weighing the whole journey rather than just the parking, our fly versus drive calculator puts fuel, tolls and time against the fare.
Practical tips
- Photograph your ticket and your bay. A lost ticket attracts a penalty on top of the parking charge, and regional lots are small enough that you will find the car — the ticket is the expensive part.
- Watch the twelve-hour line. The jump from R45 to R95 happens at exactly twelve hours. A delayed return flight can double your parking bill.
- Shaded bays fill first. Regional lots are small. Over school holidays and long weekends the covered bays are gone early — see our school holiday flights guide for when those peaks fall.
- Check the rate on the day. Tariffs are published on an annual cycle and can change without notice. Everything here reflects the 2025/26 schedule.
Frequently Asked Questions
How much does it cost to park at George Airport?
On the ACSA 2025/26 tariff schedule, open parking at George Airport is R20 for the first hour, R45 for four to twelve hours and R95 for twelve to twenty-four hours. Shaded parking costs more: R25 for the first hour, R65 for four to twelve hours and R140 for a full day. The same rates apply at Bloemfontein, Kimberley, Upington, East London and Gqeberha.
Is parking cheaper at South Africa's regional airports than at OR Tambo?
Substantially. A full day in open parking at a regional ACSA airport is R95 on the published 2025/26 schedule. Rates at OR Tambo, Cape Town and King Shaka run several times that depending on which parkade you use, which is why a park-and-fly from a regional airport is often the cheaper end of a trip.
Do all six regional airports charge the same for parking?
Almost exactly. Chief Dawid Stuurman in Gqeberha, King Phalo in East London, George, Bram Fischer in Bloemfontein, Kimberley and Upington share an identical published tariff for drop-off, open and shaded parking. The one difference on the 2025/26 schedule is shaded parking for four to twelve hours, which is R70 at Upington against R65 everywhere else.
Is dropping someone at a regional airport free?
For the first five minutes, yes. After that the drop-off lane charges R25 for six to twenty minutes, R48 for twenty-one to forty minutes and R65 for forty-one to sixty minutes. If you are meeting an arriving flight rather than dropping a departing passenger, park in the open lot instead — an hour there is R20.
What is the cheapest way to leave a car at a regional airport for a week?
Where a long-stay band is published, it is far cheaper than daily parking. Note an oddity in the published 2025/26 schedule: the nought-to-three-day band is R420, while four days is listed at R248 and five days at R310 — meaning the shorter band costs more than the longer ones. Because that looks like a pricing anomaly rather than an intended discount, confirm the rate with the airport before relying on it.
Which South African airports publish a long-stay parking band?
On the 2025/26 regional schedule, long-stay bands appear for two of the six regional airports. The remaining airports list open and shaded parking only, where a full day is R95 open or R140 shaded, and parking beyond twenty-four hours continues at R50 per twelve hours in open parking or R70 per twelve hours in shaded.
Should I park at the airport or take an e-hailing trip?
Run the sum on your actual trip length. At R95 a day for open parking, a four-night trip is R380 before you have flown anywhere. If a return e-hailing trip costs less than that, leaving the car at home wins — and it also removes the risk of a lost-ticket penalty. For longer trips, or for airports far from town such as Upington and Kimberley, parking usually wins.
Are ACSA parking rates the same all year?
The published tariff schedule runs on an annual cycle rather than changing seasonally, so the December peak does not raise the posted rate. What does change is availability — regional airport lots are small, and over school holidays and long weekends the shaded bays fill first.