Go to the content
Terminal Rules

Kiss and fly, dépose minute, set down: sign words

Kiss and fly, kiss and ride, dépose minute, sosta breve, Kurzzeitparken and set down are all names for a place where a car stops briefly at an airport. The name does not carry the rules: Geneva's Kiss & Fly forbids pick-up, while Luton's Drop Off and Pick Up Zone takes both directions.

Revised 19 Sep 2026

Why does the same sign mean different things at two airports?

Because the airport picks the word, and nothing makes the word mean one thing. Geneva and Salzburg both print Kiss & Fly, and the two zones agree on almost nothing: one forbids collecting a passenger, the other bans nothing in words and bills by the clock after its free minutes.

Can I collect someone at a drop-off sign?

At some of these airports, and not at others, and the sign will not tell you which.

Schiphol draws Geneva's line with a different spelling. At its Kiss & Ride the only action allowed is letting passengers out and unloading the baggage, and the airport sends anyone meeting a flight to car park P1.

Luton skips the question by naming the zone for both jobs. Its Drop Off and Pick Up Zone takes either direction, with a maximum stay of 30 minutes.

Manchester puts the difference in money rather than in wording. Its Drop Off zones are drop-off only, and its page warns that attempting to collect someone there brings a charge.

How do I read a sign I have never seen before?

Read the verb, not the name. Four things decide what you may do at a kerb, and the name answers none of them: which direction is allowed, whether you may leave the car, how long you have, and who may enter.

Who is the zone actually for?

Ask that next, because the friendliest-sounding ones are often the most closed. Nice keeps its dépose-minute for private cars and says professional passenger transport may not enter. Malpensa's free Polmone waiting area is shut to anyone carrying passengers professionally, even free of charge. Heathrow's Authorised Vehicle Area takes licensed private hire vehicles and taxis and no passengers at all.

Can a name outlive the sign?

It can, and one of these already has. Heathrow renamed Short Stay to Terminal Parking on 29 September 2025 and Long Stay to Park & Ride, and says its road signs still carry the old names.

The terms

Kiss and Fly
An English-shaped label, usually written Kiss & Fly, that airports outside the English-speaking world put on a short stopping lane. It carries no fixed rule: at Geneva the Kiss & Fly is drop-off only and passenger pick-up is not permitted, while Salzburg's Kiss & Fly Lane P10 is a charged lane at the departure building.
Kiss and Ride
The Dutch and German form of the same label, written Kiss & Ride. At Schiphol it is the free kerb in front of the Departures hall, and the airport says the only action allowed there is letting passengers out and unloading the baggage.
Dépose minute
French for setting someone down in a minute, the usual name for a drop-off zone in France. Nice runs a dépose-minute car park at each terminal, reserved for private cars: the airport says professional passenger transport may not enter.
Set down
British English for letting a passenger out of the car, so a set-down area is a drop-off zone. Stansted calls the barrierless drop-off outside Departures its Express Set Down, with a maximum stay of 30 minutes.
Forecourt
The British word for the terminal kerb road, the lane immediately outside the doors. Manchester's Drop Off zones sit on the upper and lower forecourts of both terminals, and Heathrow says its forecourts carry height restrictions without printing a figure.
Curbside lane
The American spelling that Swiss and German airports use in their English pages for the same stretch of kerb. Zurich has a Departure curbside lane at Check-in 1 and 2 and a separate Arrival curbside lane, where passing through is always charged; Munich's terminal curbside lanes at Terminal 1 and Terminal 2 are free for 10 minutes, twice within a calendar day.
Vorfahrt
German for the terminal approach road, the ramp where cars pull in at the doors, used at Austrian, German and Swiss airports. Vienna calls its departures kerb the Terminalvorfahrt Abflug and gives each number plate 10 free minutes once per calendar day.
Kurzzeitparken
German for short-stay parking, meaning a car park beside the terminal rather than a kerb. Innsbruck has no separate drop-off or pick-up kerb for private cars, so its Kurzzeitparken P1 and P3 are the published option, with the first 10 minutes free.
Kurzparkplatz
Vienna's word for the same thing, a short-term parking lot. The airport calls Kurzparkplatz K3 at Arrivals ideal for picking passengers up, a few metres from the exit of the arrivals hall.
Sosta breve
Italian for short stay. At Malpensa the sosta breve car parks are numbered P7, P8, P9 and P10, and take cars, motorbikes and minibuses carrying up to 9 people.
ZTC
The label the ordinance for Malpensa gives the limited-stay area at Terminal 1, a camera-timed zone rather than a car park. You have 15 minutes from the entry gate to the exit camera on each of the three Terminal 1 levels, and Terminal 2 has no such zone.
Polmone
Italian for lung, and Malpensa's name for the free waiting area between Terminal 1 and Terminal 2. It allows 60 minutes of free waiting with a parking disc on display before you drive into the timed Terminal 1 zone, and it is closed to anyone carrying passengers professionally, even free of charge.
Express Pick Up
A British sign word for a bay where you may collect a passenger but not drop one off. Gatwick's express pick-up areas sit inside the Short Stay car parks and its page says they should not be used for dropping off; Manchester's Express Pick Up runs to a 15 minute maximum.
Short Stay
The British sign for the car park beside the terminal, and where most UK airports send pick-ups. Heathrow renamed its Short Stay car parks Terminal Parking on 29 September 2025 and says the road signs still use the old name.
Park & Ride
Heathrow's name since the same renaming for what the signs still call Long Stay: an outlying car park with a free shuttle bus to the terminal. It is the free option in both directions, with the first 29 minutes of any drive-up session free.
Authorised Vehicle Area
Heathrow's waiting area for licensed private hire vehicles and taxis on the Northern Perimeter Road, shortened to AVA. It is for waiting only: no passengers can be picked up or dropped off there, and drivers collect from Terminal Parking or Park & Ride instead.

Airports in this page

Sources