Taxis ordered to cut airport fares 12% from Monday

Ben Gurion taxis photo: Yossi Zeliger
Ben Gurion taxis photo: Yossi Zeliger

The Israel Airports Authority says the lower fares will apply until a new concession is granted.

Starting tomorrow, the rate charged for taxi rides from Ben Gurion Airport will be cut by 12%. The discount was made possible when the Israel Airports Authority stopped requiring drivers of registered taxis to pay a NIS 5 fee under the Supervision of Commodities and Services Ordinance and a special NIS 5.80 fee included in the current tender.

Taxis that refuse to operate according to the model and to grant the discount will not be allowed to wait in the line on the ground floor at Ben Gurion Airport for passengers emerging from the arrivals' hall; they will only be allowed to collect passengers from the third floor.

The discount will be given on the rates set by the Ministry of Transport for 70 destinations. It refers to the net price of the journey, not to additions, such as baggage or a third passenger. The discount will be offered to passengers before the journey, and will be binding on the taxi drivers.

The Airports Authority emphasizes that this arrangement will be in effect until the tender is published and a new winner enters the airport.

The recent tender was canceled following a dispute between Gett and Hadar-Lod Taxis, who were declared the winners of the tender, after they offered a 31% discount on the Ministry of Transport list price. After the tender was canceled, the Airports Authority opened Ben Gurion Airport to all registered taxis in Israel.

The Airports Authority stated, "As part of the struggle against unregistered taxis, in addition to the supervision team, a forklift tow-truck will be used like the one used by the Hapoal Tel Aviv soccer club, which tows away unregistered taxis. The towed taxis will charged NIS 600 (including a towing fee)."

Passenger traffic is projected to continue breaking records at Ben Gurion Airport this summer, with over 4.5 million passengers expected. Terminal 1, which has been renovated, will soon be opened, with 215 weekly low-cost flights taking off to various destinations. Total passenger traffic at Ben Gurion Airport is projected to reach 2.1 million in July and 2.3 million in August, reaching a peak of 90,000 passengers daily.

The monthly record for passengers is set to be broken already in June, with 1.7 million passengers passing through Ben Gurion Airport, 17%, more than in June 2016.

According to July-August figures, the leading destinations in numbers of passengers are Warsaw (90,000 passengers), Antalya (87,000), Larnaca (84,000), Moscow (71,000), and Paris (55,000). Many of these passengers use continuation flights to reach various destinations. The countries leading the summer increase are Turkey (mostly as an intermediate stop for connection flights), Greece, the US, Germany, and Russia.

Published by Globes [online], Israel Business News - www.globes-online.com - on June 11, 2017

© Copyright of Globes Publisher Itonut (1983) Ltd. 2017

Ben Gurion taxis photo: Yossi Zeliger
Ben Gurion taxis photo: Yossi Zeliger
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