Access to taxi plaza at Lisbon airport controlled in November

O access to the taxi plaza of Humberto Delgado Airport, in Lisbon, will be controlled by cancela, from November 3, only allowing the entry of accredited vehicles, it was announced today.

According to information from the Portuguese Taxi Federation (FPT) and the National Association of Road Carriers in Light Cars (ANTRAL), on its web pages, “the access to the taxi plaza of Humberto Delgado Airport comes into operation on Tuesday [November 03], at 10:00.”.

“ From that moment, access to the square will be controlled through the accreditation database and only accredited taxis will be able to enter”, reads in the FPT note, adding that “all credits completed by Friday are included in the database”.

After October 30, “the accreditations continue to be made in the associations”, the FPT and ANTRAL, and “the accreditations made each week come into force on Tuesday of the following week”.

“ Professionals who complete the process after the initial deadline should therefore take into account this interval between accreditation and activation of access to the square ", stressed the direction of ANTRAL.

“ We call on all professionals who are not yet accredited to do so until 30 October, in order to ensure access to the square from the first day of operation of the cancela ", reiterated the FPT.

The fixed taxi fare for the routes from the Lisbon airport square came into effect on 15 October, becoming 16 or 19 euros depending on the crown, although without control of access to accredited taxi drivers.

In statements to the agency Lusa, the president of FPT, Carlos Silva, previously explained that the new system for taxis operating at Humberto Delgado Airport covers in the first phase all taxi drivers, even those who are not yet accredited for this purpose.

The cooperation and self-regulation protocol for the Taxi Service at Humberto Airport Delgado was signed in September by the Lisbon Chamber, ANA – Aeroportos de Portugal and the Lisbon Tourism Association (ATL), resulting from the agreement with the representatives of the taxi sector.

Carlos Silva acknowledged, on the 14th, that everything should be prepared to start on the scheduled date since the signing of the protocol between all entities, admitting that the system should only be operating at the beginning of November.

According to the person responsible, the universe of taxis operating in Lisbon is 3,500, “there may be 500 to want to make the airport square” – and “any car licensed in Lisbon can do service at the airport as long as it does the accreditation”.

Carlos Silva also recalled the need to extend the fixed price to areas outside the capital, such as Moscavide, Sacavém and Prior Velho (Lours Council), for example. He considered “it is not fair for a person to pay 16 euros to the Parque das Nações and if the destination is a little further ahead, but already in another municipality, Loures, and so close to the airport, the service is already “paid through the meter”.

The Protocol sets prices of EUR 16 for zone 1 and EUR 19 for zone 2 during the daytime of working days. Between 22:00 and 07:00, on weekends and holidays, the figures rise to EUR 20 and 23, respectively.

Zone 1 covers Alvalade, Areeiro, Avenidas Novas, Beato, Lumiar, Marvila, Olivais, Parque das Nações, Penha de France and Santa Clara, while zone 2 includes Aid, Alcântara, Arroyos, Belém, Benfica, Campolide, Campo de Ourique, Carnide, Estrela, Misericórdia, Santa Maria Maior, Santo António, São Domingos de Benfica and São Vicente.

The measure arises after successive complaints by passengers, especially tourists, related to excessive charges and refusal of destination.

In a PSP inspection carried out in August, 67 infringements were detected in about 100 taxis inspected.