Row over discounts for airport taxi drop
WHILE TRAVELLERS PAY AN EXTRA £3 ON AIRPORT CAB FARES A PRIVATE HIRE DRIVER SAYS PASSING ON SAVINGS TO HIS PASSENGERS COULD LEAVE HIM OUT OF POCKET
A TAXI driver says he will not be passing on discounts for new drop-off zone charges at Manchester Airport to his passengers.
From Tuesday, drivers carrying out ‘kiss and fly’ drop-offs are charged £3 for five minute stays, £4 for ten minutes, or incur £25 fines if they stay over 10 minutes.
Private hire drivers can apply for a £30 discount card which gives them a 40 per cent discount off the new charges.
That means the £3 charge for a fiveminute stay drops to £1.80 and the £4 charge for a 10-minute stay is reduced to £2.40.
But the M.E.N. has spoken to a taxi driver who admits he is still charging an extra £3 on top of his fares despite his discount.
One private hire driver who had just dropped off a family of holidaymakers on Tuesday, but asked not to be named, told the M.E.N. he had bought a £30 discount card, but admitted he was not passing on the discount to customers.
He added: “But that’s with good reason. I paid £30 for the discount card so I have to make that back. Sometimes we might have to stay over 10 minutes and that would be £25, who knows?
“I don’t know how often I’ll be at the airport so I don’t know if I’ll get an opportunity to make back the £30 unless I charge the £3.” Tom Wilson, who works for the airport’s World Duty Free in customer service, is among customers taking the hit.
He gets a taxi to work every day from Wythenshawe and his £5 journey has increased to £8.
He said: “I don’t think the airport has thought this through in terms of how it affects staff. Because I start at 4am there aren’t many other public transport options for me and to travel to Jetparks to get the free shuttle bus would actually cost me £8.50.”
A Manchester Airport spokesman said: “As we developed our new forecourt arrangements, we considered the interests of a significant number of user groups.
“This included frequent commer- cial users, such as private hire operators, for whom a discount scheme was developed.
“While it is the decision of each private hire firm whether they pass on this discount, it was our intention in creating the scheme that passengers would be the ultimate beneficiaries. We will continue to monitor the situation.”