A wheelchair-bound woman has been forced to wait two hours for a taxi at Darwin Airport

A Top End woman who is confined to a wheelchair has been forced to wait hours for a taxi at Darwin Airport.

AFTER sitting on a plane from Adelaide for nearly four hours, a 79-year-old woman in a wheelchair was forced to wait more than two hours at Darwin International Airport for a suitable taxi.

Amitha Perera, who lives in Gray, had undergone a serious medical procedure in Adelaide before returning home last month.

The last time she was able to access a toilet was at Adelaide Airport before her 11am flight to Darwin.

Ms Perera’s son Priya Wickremasena who travelled from Adelaide with his mum, has made desperate calls for more taxis for able and disabled people.

It comes after the NT News revealed on Friday that taxi wait times at Darwin Airport had ballooned out to up to four hours.

Ms Perera and Mr Wickremasena’s experience began when they touched down on Top End soil at 3.45pm on Saturday, May 28.

Priya Wickremasena and his 79-year-old mother Amitha Perera. Mr Wickremasena says people should have adequate access to resources at any given time, particularly disabled people. Picture: Floss Adams.

“I was told by the taxi operator in Darwin that they do not take bookings from Darwin Airport and I will have to wait until a wheelchair cab arrives whenever that is. I was told they cannot give me an ETA,” Mr Wickremasena said.

“So we waited and waited again after an hour and 15 minutes later I reached out to the same cab company again and was told to wait.”

Absolutely fuming with frustration, Mr Wickremasena tried alternative solutions like booking a normal sedan cab and even inquired about a rental car to hire from the airport but they were all completely booked out.

“I tried to get my mum into a normal cab, as I know I could lift my mum as she is only 50kg and put her into the seat,” he said.

“But the male cab driver abused me and told me to go away in colourful language. So that did not work out for us.”

Following the Commercial Passenger Vehicle Review commissioned by the NT government and completed by Fivenines Consulting, the ‘high occupancy’ fare charge (Tariff 5 & 6) that allows a cabbie to charge a higher rate, is set to be removed by the end of the year.

Tourism Top End general manager Glen Hingley holds concerns for the Territory taxi industry and expects passenger wait times to continue to increase, particularly for disenfranchised communities.

Mr Hingley says the taxi industry is suffering enormous challenges with staffing shortages and “these challenges are being exacerbated by a certain viability aspect”. Picture: Floss Adams.

“Taxis play an integral part in our community and the tourism sector, they are the ones that are responsible for getting people around like disabled people or people who don’t have a debit card,” Mr Hingley said.

“There was previously an incentive (tariff 5 & 6) for taxi drivers to drive the larger taxis with more passengers because there was a higher fare attached to that.

“The cost (brand new up to $100,000) of setting the larger vehicles up is not a cheap exercise, you can’t just buy them off the showroom floor, when they have to be kitted out to be wheelchair friendly, to help not only people with disabilities as tourists arrive but importantly locals.

Mr Hingley says taxis play an integral role in the community and tourism sector. Picture: Floss Adams.

“So by taking away that five and above fare increase, it makes it challenging for taxi drivers to have incentive to drive the larger vehicles which will have a knock on effect through tourism and through our local community as well.”

Infrastructure, Planning and Logistics Minister Eva Lawler has been contacted for comment.

However on Friday, Ms Lawler said taxi operators would be offered $15,000 to upgrade their vehicles to become wheelchair accessible.

“We are incentivising operators to provide more wheelchair accessible services,” she said.

This incentive follows the announcement of the release of a set number of taxi licences in Darwin and Alice Springs each year, over the next five years via a ballot.

“It is a focus of the government to enable reliable and safe transport options, including taxis, to all Territorians and visitors, including those members of the community reliant on wheelchair accessibility,” Ms Lawler said.