AIRPORT AILMENTS EAMONN HOLMES LETS FLY OVER
BELFAST AIRPORT’S NEW TAXI SYSTEM
TV presenter Eamonn Holmes has been left fuming at George Best Belfast City Air- port after changes were made to the taxi system. The This Morning presenter tweeted furiously last month about the recently altered taxi system operating from the airport. As reported in PHTM last month, Value Cabs has obtained an exclusive front-of- house contract at both Belfast City and International Airports, replacing the public hire black taxi service. The barrage of angry tweets began on Fri- day, with one saying: “U COULDN’T MAKE
IT UP!!!!! Uproar at the new taxi collection system at Belfast George Best Airport. Worst system ever.” Mr Holmes also attached a picture of a busy queuing area. The Belfast-born celebrity continued: “U can now seeming- ly ONLY get a taxi at Belfast City Airport if u BOOK in advance. Please let me inter- view whoever thought this up!”
He then urged radio broadcaster Stephen Nolan to slam the new system, tweeting: “Please tell me @stephennolan has debated this on Radio Ulster! Complete shambles NI DOE and
G Best Airport.” This was followed by: “I thought the idea was to attract people to Belfast? @Tourism Ireland - stick the boot in! We are a laughing stock!!!!!” Finally, politicians got their share of the blame with the blast: “Why do NI Politicians allow their biggest (sic) airport to oper- ate like this?”
Under the previous black taxi system it was not necessary to pre-book or stand in a queue with a ticket. A spokesman for Belfast City Airport said the “slight” change was because of Value Cabs being a private hire firm and,
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by law, is required to only take passengers who have booked in advance.
“In essence, you have to pre-book by getting a ticket from an office inside the terminal.” Changes to the Taxis Act (Northern Ireland) 2008, which intro- duced a single licensing system, effectively making all taxis public hire, were scheduled to take effect from Septem- ber 2013, but have yet to be made law. The move was delayed by five months last year to let the taxi industry prepare for the change.
It was suggested by then Environment Minister Alex Attwood that allowing the pub- lic to hail any taxi
would give them more choice and bring prices down.
The outburst from the popular TV presenter comes after the Belfast Telegraph reported on another consequence of the new exclusivity con- tract between Value Cabs and Belfast City Airport, with travellers paying more than if they use a rival com- pany.
A £2 supplementary cost is automatically charged and goes towards the airport. It was condemned by Ukip MLA David McNarry, who warned the airport could get a reputation as being a “rip-off”.
He told the Telegraph: “Charging people an extra £2 is an extor-
tion and they should- n’t be allowed to do that.” The £2 levy means that passen- gers travelling with Value Cabs from the airport to the centre of Belfast will have to pay £10, instead of £8 with a rival firm. Another recent pas- senger also slammed the taxi system. He said he came in on a flight from London last week and went out to the taxi rank, only to be asked: “Have you booked?” The man said: “In future I’ll just call another firm from my mobile when I arrive, as it will be just as fast and I’ll also save myself a couple of quid. It’s not the driv- ers - the system and law is ridiculous.”
POINT OUT THE DRUNKS, AIRPORT BOSSES TELL MANCHESTER CABBIES
Airport police have a new tactic to tackle drunken passengers - getting cabbies to dob them in before they arrive at the ter- minal.
The initiative is part of a crackdown on anti- social behaviour following a recent spate of drunken stunts, which includ- ed a man stripping off on the runway and two women getting topless at check-in. Officers say they have spotted a trend for holidaymakers getting drunk before hailing a taxi to the airport. Fiona Jay, community beat offi- cer at the airport, told the Manchester Evening News: “It is rare but we have even had passengers arriv- ing with crates of
beer. It’s about edu- cating taxi drivers to let us know about people if they seem to be drunk and then we know they are coming and can even meet them when they arrive in extreme cases.”
It’s hoped the move will take some pres- sure off handling agents at check-in who currently bear the brunt of the few troublemakers.
PC Jay added: “It’s only one in 10,000 passengers who causes trouble but it means we can check they are okay for departure and possi- bly hold them back for a few hours if needed. “We are reasonable with passengers - they can enjoy a few
drinks but if they are being obnoxious, abusive and are not fit to fly they will not get on the flight.”
Gary Bregan, general manager at Wythen- shawe’s Club Cars, said: “We don’t get too many drunk pas- sengers but it’s a good idea. If we ever have problems with passengers we can also take them straight to the airport police station.”
It’s hoped the new tactic will be in full force before Easter.
Mmmm....Good idea and all, but no doubt the drivers would pre- fer the passengers to be out of their vehicle before they “dobbed them in” to airport police. How to win friends and influence people....Ed.
PHTM JANUARY 2014
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