Plans for taxi drivers to pass on a £1 airport drop off charge to their customers were unanimously backed by members of Aberdeen City Council’s licensing committee yesterday.
The fee was introduced by bosses at Aberdeen International Airport in January – prompting an angry backlash from non-airport cabbies who ended up paying the charge out of their own pockets.
The £1 allows cars on to the forecourt for 10 minutes, with a barrier set up for motorists to pay upon exit.
A report to the committee recommended that councillors agree to pass on the surcharge to taxi customers.
A recommendation to keep normal taxi fares at their current level was also agreed by councillors. And officers have been tasked with meeting trade representatives to explore the “restructure” of tariffs in future.
Last night, committee convener Scott Carle said: “This is very much about us supporting the taxi trade.
“There is a limit to what the council can do because the airport is a business running on private land, but the trade asked for the charge to be incorporated into the surcharges.
“That will allow for drivers to drop off their customers at the forecourt should they wish to be dropped off there.
“What I believe can happen is, if the customer doesn’t want to pay the surcharge, they can be dropped off at the long-stay car park, where there is a free shuttle bus system which can take them to the main terminal.
“The trade made their case, if you can imagine a driver might have a number of fares going to the airport, and days add up to weeks, to months, and before they know it, it is quite a lot of money.”
Mr Carle, a Labour councillor, also said that trade representatives were happy to keep the basic fares at the same rate, partly due to the impact of a low oil price on the local economy.
Aberdeen International Airport said the charge was introduced because the forecourt had reached its capacity and there have been concerns over the safety of customers and staff.
Chief executive Carol Benzie, speaking at the time of the launch of the fee in January, said the charge was introduced “before someone got hurt”. She also said that 10% of income collected will go back into projects for the benefit of the “wider community”.