Taxi Driver Online

Plane unfair: Furious cabbies could launch legal fight against Manchester Airport parking plan
Bosses plan to fine anyone collecting passengers from anywhere other than designated drop-off zones

April 26, 2011

Private hire companies could launch a legal battle against Manchester Airport after plans to fine anyone collecting passengers from anywhere other than designated drop-off zones were announced.

Meet and greet firms and private hire drivers have teamed up to challenge the proposals, warning the move could put them out of business. It is understood they are considering legal action.

Today, the M.E.N. can also reveal that motorists who try to stop anywhere other than the free drop-off zones will be slapped with a £30 fine.

Police will enforce the traffic order – and it is understood they will focus on drivers near the terminal buildings.

Bosses want motorists to use short-stay car parks – meaning they will have to fork out a minimum of £2 unless they used the designated zones.

But opponents have written to Manchester council opposing the new restrictions and are urging a re-think.

Spokesman Lee Crellin, manager of Wythenshawe’s Hotel Secure Parking Ltd, has signed the letter to city solicitor Susan Orrel – and personally delivered it to the town hall.

He wrote: "We feel that Manchester Airport’s application to make it illegal to load, unload and meet our customers in these specific areas is commercially driven. If granted, these new laws would essentially eliminate most of the meet and greet companies which compete with Manchester Airport, therefore distorting or hampering our companies to the prejudice of consumers."

The alliance has also accused the airport of infringing competition laws and said a High Court ruling involving meet and greet companies at Heathrow Airport offered them hope.

Earlier this month, the High Court upheld a claim by two companies that Heathrow had breached the Competition Act by forcing them out of some terminals yet allowing their own in-house valet parking firms to stay.

At Manchester, the ‘exclusion zone’ will include the on-site petrol station – where airport bosses say up to 20 people at a time wait on the forecourt to bend the rules. The move closes a legal loophole that has existed since the airport axed 10-minute free parking in 2006. Because they failed to get relevant orders, they had no legal power to enforce the rules.

Now bosses are closing the loophole by applying for a Road Traffic Order – and extending the exclusion zone to include roads around the airport.

An airport spokeswoman said the step would improve traffic flow, reduce congestion and boost security.

She said: "This change simply helps us to enforce the by-laws but it certainly won’t affect the vast majority of drivers who drop-off without waiting."

Council notices have gone up around the airport and people have until April 26 to object.

Source; http://menmedia.co.uk/manchesterevening ... rking-plan

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Kind regards,

Brummie Cabbie.

Type a message, post your news,
Disagree with other members' views;
But please, do have some decorum,
When debating on the TDO Forum.

What's new?

Other airports have been doing this for a few years or more!

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Kind regards,

Brummie Cabbie.

Type a message, post your news,
Disagree with other members' views;
But please, do have some decorum,
When debating on the TDO Forum.

I've never noticed any problems with the traffic flow at Manair, nor have I ever had a problem dropping people off. I think the problem will be caused when passengers are to be picked up from the airport.

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Note to self: Just because it pops into my head does NOT mean it should come out of my mouth!!

We always park in the car park when we pick up at airports. It is not the end of the world. If people are picking up at the drop off point then how can that be meet and greet?

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Grandad,

I notice that they have put up new signs for hotel pick ups in. T1 carpark. If all the off site car park busses also have to use the car park it will present a real problem at peak times.. A lot of this has been caused by the airport using part of the area for valet parking. Even now when the lunchtime Emirates flight arrives it can take 30mins to exit the car park!

TBH for the number of airport pick-ups we handle, it's no great loss for me to knock them back.
I have done quite a few in the year or so I've been working, but I won't do any more. The take-outs are fine, but almost every pick-up I've had has been with problems.
Enough is enough for me, and if they're about to make it even more difficult I'm definitely avoiding it.

As a general rule if I was to pick up at Manair, which is extremely rare, I would park in the pub car park up the road. When the pasengers arrive you give them a quick call and ask them to ring you when they have cleared customs. It's no great inconvenience as any costs for parking would be met by the customer any way. I did notice the other week that Liverpool Airport has cut down the free drop off time as well, from 10 mins to 5 mins in their short stay car park

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Note to self: Just because it pops into my head does NOT mean it should come out of my mouth!!

Not a problem down here we probably get a Manchester job once every 5 years we only get asked for quotes very occassionally but with airport transfers once you're over the £100 mark most people decide to drive there anyway except Heathrow its simply too far away to be economically viable

But airports and railway companies alike seem to have taken quite a major revenue hit over the last couple of years and are desperately looking for other sources of revenue I'm sure within a year or two even the free drops offs in the long stays will dissappear amd everyone will have to pay something to go onto airport property

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lack of modern legislation is the iceberg sinking the titanic of the transport sector