Melbourne Airport taxi fees: Travellers face being slugged as cabbies set to cop higher rank fee

TRAVELLERS face being slugged higher fees for hailing taxis at Melbourne airport, which intends to slap cabbies with a higher fee to use the ranks.

Travellers face being slugged higher fees for hailing taxis at Melbourne airport. Picture: Jason Edwards

TRAVELLERS face being slugged higher fees for hailing taxis at Melbourne airport.

The airport intends to slap cabbies with a $3.58 fee to use the ranks — up from $2.70 — from next month and wants the higher cost to be passed on to passengers.

The airport’s price hike has angered the struggling taxi industry and consumer groups, who dubbed it “greedy”.

Travellers and those picking up holiday-makers are already incensed with exorbitant carpark fees, with Melbourne airport plucking $147 million from user pockets — more than $400,000 a day — in 2014-15.

Melbourne eclipses all other airports across the country in how much money it rakes in from parking.

All taxi drivers pay to access taxi ranks and, in return, have access to the holding yard, cab ranks and other facilities.

Melbourne airport intends to lock in the higher fee for two years, and then index it in line with CPI.

In its submission to the Essential Services Commission, the airport wrote unless fees were increased it would either stop investment into taxi infrastructure or impose the increase on taxis.

The ESC does not set or regulate the airport’s access charge for taxi operators.

The watchdog will later this month decide whether cabbies are able to pass on any increased cost to customers.

Victorian Taxi Association chief executive officer David Samuel slammed the increase, saying it was yet another obstacle to slap the taxi industry.

Melbourne airport spokesman Grant Smith said the increased fee was needed to fund new taxi facilities including a dedicated rank at Terminal 4, expanded waiting bays and building new internal roads.

Consumer Action Law Centre chief Gerard Brody was incensed at the prospect of airport users being charged even more.

“This goes to show Melbourne airport will try to sucker you at any turn,” he said.

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