Sir, – On Thursday afternoon last, I arrived by Aer Lingus in Dublin from Lisbon during bad weather. The flight was delayed by two hours and we landed on the tarmac away from the buildings. The passengers alighted by the mobile staircase and then had to walk in dreadful weather and were joined by passengers from other flights seeking shelter. After clearing immigration and customs, I went on to get a taxi.
There were hundreds of people waiting for taxis under a covered roof getting drenched from the horizontal rain and it took me over an hour to get to the top of the queue.
There were very few taxis available but on the other side of the road there were scores of taxis dropping off passengers at departures. These taxis are precluded from picking up fares at the airport so they left empty, seeking business elsewhere.
The comments from the frozen, saturated, taxi-seeking clients, mainly Americans, varied from the incredulous to the angry. It is time to review this unwelcome céad míle fáilte to Dublin, and I would suggest that Fáilte Ireland and Dublin Airport Authority get their act together to resolve this unnecessary situation. Otherwise cancel the existing airport taxi regulations and let market forces of supply and demand operate freely within the taxi industry. – Yours, etc,
KEN RYAN,
Dalkey,
Co Dublin.