The Algarve’s taxi drivers are in full battlecry. They have had enough of low-priced unlicensed “airport transfers”, which are costing them much-needed fares. They claim the lucrative business, usually run by drivers of minivans and people-carriers, has “crept up” on them over the years, and is completely unfair, as it dodges the laws that taxi drivers normally have to adhere to.
Explaining the sector’s beef to Expresso, taxi boss Paulo Abrantes said that the transfers are usually “included in holiday packages”, and so are not seen, per se, as taxi services.
This means drivers are free of any checks and charges, and are thus able to pocket a great deal more by way of profits.
Anyone who has taken advantage of an airport transfer will have noticed the difference. A trip from Vale do Lobo to the airport by taxi, for example, will cost €36, writes Expresso, while the same journey with a transfer service will cost no more than €24.
So what is the solution? Expresso writes that officials from ASAE, the government service watchdog, are on the ground and looking for lawbreakers.
According to Paulo Abrantes, however, transfer vans continue to operate illegally and “no one is doing anything about it”.
