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PostPosted: Wed Dec 08, 2004 7:30 pm 
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Location: Miles away from paradise, not far from hell.
End to 'absurd' ban on black cabs picking up at airport

A BAN on black cabs picking up passengers at Edinburgh Airport is to be lifted in a bid to end the problem of long queues of passengers waiting to get into the city.

Airport bosses have announced plans to create a £500,000 dedicated rank for black cabs for the first time.

At the moment the airport’s taxi rank is only allowed to be used by a private hire firm, Executive Onward Travel, with black cab firms being brought in by the company to supplement its 220-strong fleet when they are needed.

The current system has seen long queues for taxis at peak periods, with passengers sometimes waiting up to an hour for a taxi, while black cab drivers have been dropping off passengers but being prevented from picking anyone up. The situation has led to angry confrontations between drivers from black cab firms and private hire firms, with the police regularly being called in to settle disputes.

Airport chiefs today said they hoped the new system would work far better for passengers leaving the airport.

Taxi trade leaders today welcomed the move as "long overdue" while city council chiefs admitted the current system had become "frankly absurd".

Executive Onward Travel, the company which has the current contract to provide the airport taxis, said today it was "not overly concerned" by the airport’s plans, but admitted it could lead to situations where there were too many taxis waiting for passengers. A spokesman for Edinburgh Airport said black cab drivers would have to pay a "nominal fee" of £1 for each fare collected at the new rank, which is planned to open in January 2006.

Airport chiefs were due to launch a major consultation exercise today at a meeting between trade representatives and managing director Richard Jeffrey.

The airport spokesman said: "We know the ban on black cabs picking up passengers has been a big bone of contention and that’s part of the reason for us doing this, but the main reason is to try to provide a better service for passengers."

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PostPosted: Wed Dec 08, 2004 7:43 pm 
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Location: Plymouth, i think, i'll just check the A to Z!
The PH firm only have themselves to blame. obviously they had took on too much than they can handle with the airport contract.

leave your customers waiting and they'll complain, now they'll get bugger all from there, if theres a dozon black cabs waiting outside when a plane lands.


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PostPosted: Wed Dec 08, 2004 7:59 pm 
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A case of the taxi trade meeting PH un-met demand. :shock:

As rare as rocking horse poo.

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PostPosted: Thu Dec 09, 2004 5:58 am 
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well done to the hacks 1st class service :lol:


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PostPosted: Thu Dec 09, 2004 6:26 pm 
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Joined: Fri Oct 22, 2004 7:35 pm
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Location: Dundee
steveo wrote:
The PH firm only have themselves to blame. obviously they had took on too much than they can handle with the airport contract.

leave your customers waiting and they'll complain, now they'll get bugger all from there, if theres a dozon black cabs waiting outside when a plane lands.


From what I know about it it's more the fault of BAA than anyone else

In the past Edinburgh had the normal blacks in the city, but also had a seperate airport plate, but these used saloons.

The council decided to abolish the airport plates and give them all normal plates, because of the wheelchair aspect and also because it was a nonsense that the the black cabs were dropping at the airport and not being able to rank there, and vice versa for the airport taxis.

But BAA wanted saloons at the airport, so they said that taxis couldn't rank there at all, and instead PH cars in.

There were a lot of stories in the Edinburgh press about this, and for the punters the thinks got a lot worse. For example, there was a big story about a pensioner who was threatened with arrest when he had been waiting for a while in freezing temperatures and tried to hail a passing black cab. A black cab driver appeared in front of the licensing committee because he had picked up there, but he said that it was common for police/marshalls to ask the blacks to pick up when there were no PH available.

I don't think it was just any old PH firm, it was basically just a management company set up to run the rank at the airport.

But it's probable that numbers were kept deliberately for financial reasons (but who would benefit is unclear), which obviously affected the public.

Clearly now BAA have changed tack a bit, but obviously with the £1 charge for blacks they still want their pound of flesh.

Just another one of those airport/railway taxi rank sagas, I'm afraid!

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