Airport cab drivers Saturday slammed a fresh decision by the Projects Management at King Abdul Aziz International Airport (KAAIA) to impose an additional SR4 on each taxi leaving the airport premises with a customer. The management said that the collected money would help refurbish the airport façade and bring an overhaul of taxi services. The drivers said that they already pay annual fees to the management for using the airport facilities, and this new additional charge is just another stab in the back. The mosque, taxi stands, and other service places were built at the drivers' expenses, they said. Two years ago, the cabbies were required by the Projects Management at KAAIA to pay SR600 in annual fees to be allowed to operate from the airport, said Muhammad Al-Bogami, a taxi driver. Now it has been increased to SR1,000 a year that has to be paid by over 800 drivers, he added. “The license fees go the Projects Management that does not do anything,” said Shail Al-Sulami, another cab driver at the airport. Despite the SR800,000 the drivers pay a year to the management, they cannot find a good place to wait for customers, he said. It could take up to 12 hours to get a SR60 taxi ride, Saleh Al-Osaimi said. “Half of it is paid at the pump,” he said. The charge will eventually mean higher fares are coming, he said. The Airport Traffic Department said that a private company has been contracted to develop the airport façade, which eventually caused the SR4 charge for each taxi ride from the airport. The new company will expand the parking lot and organize the taxi stands at the arrival terminal, said Maj. Essam Ghandourah, chief of the Airport Traffic Department. “The charge is some kind of a coverup to drain the cabbies' wallets,” said one driver. “There is no need to organize an already organized work,” he said.
