The New Zealand Herald
auckland
Catching a cab downtown from Auckland Airport has been labelled one of the most expensive taxi fares in the world by an international travel company.
According to a CheapFlights comparison of prices in 24 cities, New Zealand has the third most expensive per-kilometre taxi fares.
And a New Zealand Herald investigation has found some Auckland taxi companies quoting price tags up to NZ$86 for a trip — more than the price of some domestic flights — that other companies can deliver for just MZ$35.
The report, released last month but based on data from March 2013, found the average price of travelling the 21.4km route from Auckland Airport to the city’s CBD was NZ$77.41 — or NZ$3.50/km.
The New Zealand price was surpassed only by fares in Berlin that were $4.06/km, and San Jose in Costa Rica that were $3.59/km.
Auckland cabs were 10 times more expensive than in the cheapest city, Buenos Aires, and twice the $1.75/km people using Australian taxis were paying.
Consumer NZ chief executive Suzanne Chetwin said the survey results confirmed anecdotes about the ever-increasing cost of Auckland’s airport journey. “[The survey] just confirms that it is very expensive to get to or from Auckland Airport and it just seems to have got dramatically more expensive over the last few years.”
The Herald’s comparison of six taxi companies or taxi booking services showed an average per-kilometre pricing of $3.03 per kilometre for the journey from the domestic terminal to Britomart.
Most expensive
The most expensive price was NZ$86.55 with Corporate Cabs through Air New Zealand’s booking service, taxi.co.nz, but the premium service was just $1.55 more than the $85 price quoted for Auckland Co-op Taxis’ standard service.
CheapCabs offered the best priced taxi service, a $35 flat rate, while the Airbus Express service was the cheapest overall option at $16 for a bus ride.
rachnal@fijisun.com.fj