Drivers will soon to be able to take advantage of a new peer-to-peer rental car scheme where drivers can hire out their car while on holidays for as much as £160 per week.
Gatwick is the first airport in the country where motorists can actually make money from their car while they are abroad, rather than paying over for the odds for it to sit in an airport car park.
Drivers will be able to opt for a “rent and earn” option from the airport’s long-stay car park. While Gatwick still expects you to pay its parking charges, if a car is rented out during this time, the income raised will deduct from the parking cost.
The plan comes as part of another “car sharing” initiative – which is said to be the future of social mobility, with manufacturers, such as Smart and Kia, predicting this trend.
Gary Wallace, head of parking at Gatwick Airport , said: “The new service offers passengers an alternative option when it comes to renting vehicles from the airport and gives them a chance to offset their parking costs.
“Our goal is to help as many people as possible to travel for less, in a convenient way.”
The initiative is being run by Car & Away, which described itself as “like an AirBnB for cars”. All vehicles are fully valeted, regardless of whether they are rented out, and photographed. They are also inspected by the RAC and offered a roadside warranty from the group, fully insured by Allianz and fitted with in-car telematics to see how the cars are driven, too.
Cars are then advertised on the site for potential customers to rent out. Smaller cars can be expected to be rented out for £80 a week, while larger cars could earn double, the firm has said.
Andy Hibbert, the founder of Car & Away, told The Times: “We’re all used to, and comfortable with, the sharing economy. So sharing a car while people go away isn’t such a big step. Especially when owners not only make money out of it, but benefit from dropping the right car next to the terminal and get a professional valet.”
