Sir, – With my wife I arrived into Dublin Airport from Faro at about 1.30am. With many of our fellow passengers we went to the T2 taxi area. There were no taxis immediately available and it was in excess of 15 minutes before the first people in the queue had their taxi.
While we waited patiently there was a flow of taxis pulling into the departure area dropping off passengers for the early morning outward flights. These taxis disappeared away from the airport, apparently not allowed to pick up unless they held a permit to do so.
There were heavy-duty two-metre iron railings which prevented arrivals passengers from reaching taxis in the departures area.
Some more agile people with minimal luggage did climb the railings and got away with minimal delay.
I understand the problem has been exacerbated when the number of permits was reduced because of the fall-off in passengers because of Covid.
With the increased passenger numbers, the number of taxi permits does not seem to have been restored.
But surely the real question should be why taxis bringing fares to the airport, from all over the city and further afield, are forced to drive empty out of the airport with no ability to pick up. This seems almost obscene.
What a waste of resources, taxi drivers’ time, vehicle usage but more especially the waste of petrol or diesel. – Yours, etc,
SEAN FOX,
Dublin 11.