Aberdeen councillors have backed plans to allow taxi drivers to automatically add the controversial £2 airport drop-off fee to passengers’ fares.
The new tariff could be introduced as early as January.
But one elected member has already suggested people try to dodge it – by asking to be dropped off on the approach road to the Aberdeen International Airport terminal.
The drop-off charge was introduced at the beginning of 2015 and set at £1.
Councillors later agreed that cabbies could add it to fares, but since it was raised to £2 for a 15-minute stay in April they have been left out of pocket.
Members of the local authority’s licensing committee yesterday paved the way for them to pass on the £2 charge, and the move will now be the subject of a month-long consultation with taxi chiefs.
Meters in non-airport zoned cars are likely to be recalibrated by January.
Committee convener Marie Boulton said the changes had been agreed to “streamline” the process for drivers and was generally supported by the trade.
Liberal Democrat committee member Steve Delaney, whose party has long opposed the fare, added: “I think people should be made aware that they can be dropped off before the car park and avoid the extra fee.”
Last night, figures in the taxi trade said there was “no choice” but to pass on the charge as many cabbies were already struggling because of the downturn in Aberdeen’s oil-based economy.
Tommy Campbell, Unite union regional organiser, said: “The taxi drivers don’t want to pass this on to passengers but they have no choice.
“The airport management should hold their heads in shame at this charge, they are the ones who are putting the drivers in this situation.
“If you are a driver making four or five trips to and from the airport every day, paying out of your own pocket, then it quickly adds up.”
Steve Robertson was an Aberdeen taxi driver for 20 years before quitting the trade this year for a job in construction.
He said: “We can’t expect the taxi drivers to subsidise the airport authority for a decision that has nothing to do with them.
“I had to leave the trade this year because it was becoming harder and harder to make any money.
“I know a lot of guys are considering the same. Aberdeen has changed so much in the past few years it’s just a different business to what it was.”
Alexander Burnett, Scottish Conservative MSP for Aberdeenshire West, said: “It is right that taxi drivers do not shoulder the cost of these punitive charges, but the losers in this are undoubtedly ordinary motorists who are simply dropping off family members or friends.”
A spokesman for the airport said the money raised from the drop-off fee was used to attract new air routes to the north-east.
He said: “Prior to the introduction of a charge in our drop-off area, some drivers were parking there for lengthy periods of time and causing safety and security concerns in the process.
“It’s necessary to have a drop-off charge to allow us to provide the safest and most secure environment for our passengers and staff, which is our number one priority.
“Our local community can be assured that any money raised from the drop-off charge goes directly towards attracting new routes from their local airport, as well as sustaining existing ones, which can be a difficult task at the best of times but especially during this particularly challenging time for the region.”