All five parkades compared. Honest pricing. What locals actually choose at CPT.
Cape Town International Airport (CPT) has five official parkades. The first hour is R28 anywhere. A full day is R160 in the P3/P4 shade parking or R230 in P1/P2 beside the terminal. A week in P5 long stay is R504, then R72 a day after that. The pick-up zone is free for 20 minutes. Pre-booking is not available at CPT — only off-site operators take reservations.
Source: ACSA published tariffs, verified 15 September 2026. All prices in South African Rand (ZAR). Independent guide — not affiliated with Airports Company South Africa. No bookings sold.
The first hour costs R28 in every car park at Cape Town International, a full day costs R160 in the shade parking or R230 beside the terminal, and a week in P5 long stay costs R504. Everything below is the published ACSA tariff for 2025/26, in rand, including VAT.
| Car park | Hourly | Daily (24 hrs) | Weekly (7 days) | Terminal & walk |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| P1 — Short stay, north | R28 first hr · R56 2 hrs · R110 4 hrs | R230 | ≈ R2 030 (R150 per extra 12 hrs) | Central terminal, north side · 2–3 min |
| P2 — Short stay, south | R28 first hr · R56 2 hrs · R110 4 hrs | R230 | ≈ R2 030 (R150 per extra 12 hrs) | Central terminal, south side · 2–3 min |
| P3 — Shade parking | R28 first hr · R38 2 hrs · R68 4 hrs | R160 | ≈ R1 050 at the 5-day-plus R150 rate | Via pedestrian subway · 7–10 min |
| P4 — Shade parking | R28 first hr · R38 2 hrs · R68 4 hrs | R160 | ≈ R1 050 at the 5-day-plus R150 rate | Via pedestrian subway · 7–10 min |
| P5 — Long stayBest value | Sold in day bands, not by the hour | R72 from day 6 · R1 040 for 0–5 days | R504 | Via pedestrian subway · 10–12 min |
| Pick-up zone (P2 ground) | Free 20 min · R30 to 40 min · R60 to 1 hr | Not for overnight | — | Kerbside at the terminal · 1 min |
| Valet (P2 ground floor) | Four operators work from P2; ACSA does not publish their tariffs, so you are quoted at the desk. Expect to pay well above the P1/P2 rate for the convenience. | Keys handed over at the terminal · 0 min | ||
All prices in South African rand, from the ACSA 2025/26 parking tariff schedule · official tariff sheet · rates last checked 15 September 2026. Weekly figures for P1–P4 are calculated from the published overstay bands.
P5 costs R504 for seven days, R432 for six days and R72 for every 24 hours after that, so a fortnight comes to about R1 008. Shorter stays fall into a single R1 040 band covering nought to five days — which means an odd but genuine quirk of the tariff: six days is less than half the price of five. If your trip is close to that line, it is worth checking what a sixth day would cost you.
P5 sits beside the shade parking next to the central car rental building, and you reach the terminal through the pedestrian subway that runs under the roadway. Allow ten to twelve minutes on foot with luggage, and a little longer if you are wrestling a family's worth of bags. A passenger transport service operates inside the precinct, but ACSA does not publish a timetable for it, so plan your timing around walking and treat a lift as a bonus.
You cannot book it. ACSA sells pre-booked parking at OR Tambo but not at Cape Town, so there is no cheaper advance rate and no bay held in your name — you take a ticket at the boom like everyone else. That matters more here than elsewhere, because long stay is limited to 189 bays and runs strictly first come, first served. It is aimed at people leaving a car for five days or more, and it empties and fills with the holiday calendar: December, Easter and the school holidays are when travellers arrive to find it full and end up in the shade parking at R150 a day instead.
Plan to be parked and walking about twenty minutes earlier than you would from P1 or P2, and photograph your ticket and bay number before you leave the car. Long stay parking for special needs passengers is on the ground floor of P1 rather than out at P5 — Katanga parking management arranges it on 021 936 3612/3.
The crossover sits at six days: up to five, the shade parking wins; from six, nothing touches P5.
| Trip length | Use | Cost | Next best |
|---|---|---|---|
| Under 2 hours | P3 or P4 shade parking | R28 first hr · R38 to 2 hrs | P1/P2 at R56 for the shorter walk · free for 20 min at the pick-up zone |
| A day trip (up to 24 hrs) | P3 or P4 shade parking | R160 | P1/P2 at R230 — R70 for three minutes less walking |
| 3 to 5 days | P3 or P4 shade parking | ≈ R600 for 3 days · R150 per 24 hrs from day 5 | P5 charges a flat R1 040 for anything under 6 days — worse here |
| 6 to 7 days | P5 long stay | R432 for 6 days · R504 for 7 | Shade parking ≈ R1 050 for the same week |
| 2 weeks or more | P5 long stay | ≈ R1 008 for 14 days (R72 a day) | Off-site meet-and-greet, if P5 is full |
Multi-day totals for P1–P4 are worked out from the published overstay bands · rates last checked 15 September 2026.
Tariffs verified against ACSA's published rates. Values are typical ranges; small adjustments occur with annual reviews.
Verdict — The convenient one. Past 24 hours it is the most expensive place to leave a car.
Verdict — Same tariff as P1. Use it for the collection run, not for the trip.
Verdict — Cheaper than P1/P2 at every band. The sensible default for anything up to five days.
Verdict — Identical tariff to P3. Fills during school holidays — arrive with time in hand.
Verdict — Cheapest from day six. Only 189 bays and strictly first come, first served.
Off-airport options are worth considering for long trips or early departures. Pros, cons, who it suits.
Price · Quoted at the desk — ACSA does not publish valet tariffs
Suits — Travellers with mobility constraints or heavy luggage.
Price · ~R90–R140 per day, varies by operator
Suits — Cost-conscious travellers comfortable handing keys to a third party.
Price · Hotel Verde ~R1,650/night • Road Lodge CPT ~R1,150/night
Suits — Out-of-towners driving in the night before a dawn flight.
Parking at Cape Town International Airport starts at R28 for the first hour in any parkade. A full day costs R160 in the P3/P4 shade parking or R230 in the P1/P2 parkades next to the terminal. A week in P5 long stay costs R504, and the pick-up zone gives you 20 minutes free. Rates are the published ACSA 2025/26 tariffs in South African rand.
P5 long stay is charged in bands: R1 040 for 0–5 days, R432 for 6 days, R504 for 7 days, and R72 for every further 24 hours. Two weeks therefore costs about R1 008. Because the six- and seven-day bands are priced at R72 a day, a six-day stay is cheaper than a five-day one.
For six days or longer, P5 long stay is the cheapest at R72 per day (R504 for a week). For shorter stays the P3 and P4 shade parking is cheapest: R38 for one to two hours and R160 for a full day, against R56 and R230 in P1 and P2. If you are only collecting someone, the pick-up zone is free for the first 20 minutes.
No. ACSA publishes pre-booked tariffs for OR Tambo, but not for Cape Town International — at CPT you take a ticket on entry and pay before you leave. P5 long stay has only 189 bays and is run strictly first come, first served. Off-site meet-and-greet operators and park-and-fly hotels can be booked ahead through their own sites.
P5 sits alongside the shade parking beside the central car rental building, and is reached through the pedestrian subway that runs under the roadway into the terminal. Allow roughly 10 to 12 minutes on foot with luggage. A passenger transport service operates within the precinct, but ACSA does not publish a timetable for it, so plan on walking.
All the ACSA car parks at CPT are fenced, covered by CCTV and staffed by parking attendants, and P1 and P2 display live bay availability. Leave nothing visible in the car. The bigger risk is the drive itself: the N2 corridor near the airport has known smash-and-grab spots, particularly around the Borcherds Quarry off-ramp after dark.
In P1 and P2 next to the terminal: R28 for 0–1 hour, R56 for 1–2 hours, R82 for 2–3 hours and R110 for 3–4 hours. In the P3 and P4 shade parking: R28, R38, R50 and R68 for the same bands. The pick-up zone allows 20 minutes free, then R30 up to 40 minutes and R60 up to an hour.
P1 lies immediately north of the central terminal building and P2 immediately south, both across the Transport Plaza and two to three minutes on foot. P3, P4 and P5 are beside the car rental building, seven to twelve minutes away through the pedestrian subway.
The lost ticket penalty is R150 plus the applicable tariff, calculated on the assumed stay. Bring photo identification and proof that you parked at CPT, such as a boarding pass. Photographing your ticket and bay number on arrival avoids almost all of this.
Yes. The pick-up zone on the ground floor of P2 — where e-hailing now operates as well — gives 20 minutes free, then R30 up to 40 minutes, R60 up to an hour and R60 an hour after that. It is for collecting and dropping, not waiting.
The car parks are managed for ACSA by Katanga Parking Services. ACSA parking at Cape Town International can be reached on +27 21 936 3600, and Katanga parking management on 021 936 3612/3 for long stay and special needs parking queries.
Four valet operators work from the ground floor of P2; ACSA does not publish their rates, so you are quoted at the desk. Off-site meet-and-greet operators quote per day online and can work out well for longer trips, but they add time at both ends and quality varies. For a straightforward week away, P5 at R504 is hard to beat.