Why Taxis & PHVs Aren’t Going to the Airport Despite an Increase in Tourists

With the Vaccinated Travel Framework coming into effect on 1 April, Singapore has seen an increase in travellers and visitors in Changi Airport.

Even before the Vaccinated Travel Framework replaced the Vaccinated Travel Lanes, there were approximately 1.14 million passengers in March alone, crossing the one million threshold since international borders closed due to the pandemic a few years ago.

Private Hires and Taxis Reluctant to Travel to the Airport

The statistics are undeniable; there is an increasing demand for private transportation as the aviation and tourism sectors slowly pick up steam again.

But what is making the private-hire car and taxi drivers so reluctant to go to the airport?

One of the main reasons boils down to the consistency of business.

With the majority of the workforce returning to their offices and the resumption of nightlife businesses, there is no shortage of passengers and more money to be made at the Central Business District (CBD) and at night.

There’s simply no reason to go all the way to the airport for passengers, where they could risk long periods of waiting with their engines turned on.

According to a Grab driver that The Straits Times spoke to, the wait can be as long as 40 minutes because there still aren’t enough travellers.

Perhaps there might be more passengers in need of transport when planes land after midnight, but he’s more likely to head over to the airport with an empty car rather than also having a passenger on board who has a flight to catch.

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Changi Airport Facing Difficulties Attracting Drivers

As the human traffic in Changi Airport continues to increase, it has now reached a point where passengers are finding it difficult to get a ride at certain times of the day.

Changi Airport is trying to mitigate the problem by offering incentives to attract drivers, but they’re not working as planned.

For instance, the Changi Airport Group started an incentive programme where drivers would be rewarded $10 for making a minimum of three trips to the airport in three time windows – 6am to 10am, 12pm to 1pm, and 4pm to 7pm.

It even gave out free coffee to drivers in the morning, but it’s still not enough to draw more drivers back.

The monetary reward can’t fully compensate for the higher fuel prices and the waiting time, the latter of which could be better spent in other areas to pick up more passengers.

Reportedly, taxi queues at Changi Airport are 40% of what it used to be in pre-pandemic conditions, but the taxis available at the airport are only a fifth of what it once was.

The numbers are scaling at a disproportionate rate.

The airport worker who offered these statistics also mentioned that the problem is especially bad in the early morning, since that’s the time interval where most flights land.

On one particular Sunday, passengers had to wait more than 45 minutes just to catch a ride.

He worries that travellers will get irritated from the long wait, but the airport workers are helpless too, because it’s not like they can force taxi drivers to come to the airport.

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