Anger at Edinburgh Airport taxis "blatant profiteering" disputed by sole operator

Private hire firm Capital Cars has provided both the black cab and private hire operation at Edinburgh Airport since April 14, 2023, after securing a contract estimated to be worth up to £100 million over five years.

Stef McDonald contacted the Evening News after noticing what she claims is a more than 50 per cent rise in a year for the taxi fare from the airport to Blackhall in Edinburgh, when she travelled on Sunday, October 27 with another adult and three children, with all five passengers each carrying a backpack bag.

Private hire firm Capital Cars won the Edinburgh Airport contract to provide taxis and black cabs in 2023. | Submitted

As well as being angry with Capital Cars, Stef also hit out at Edinburgh Airport for allowing such high price rises in a year.

She said: “What is going on with Edinburgh Airport’s taxi charges? Rates have increased at an incredible rate. The airport is allowing operators to undertake blatant profiteering at the cost to their customers.

“I travelled from the airport on Sunday and couldn’t believe the price difference from a year ago. It was a £38 fare to Blackhall. Which only a year ago would have been £23.

“How is it that private hire firm Capital Cars can charge £17 when I get into a taxi at the airport? It’s outrageous.”

Edinburgh Airport declined the opportunity to comment, as it doesn’t set the taxi fares.

A spokesperson for Capital Cars defended the price of a private hire taxi from the airport to Blackhall and queried the claimed price increase from a year ago.

He said: “The price would have been shown to the customer upfront. For comparison the bus price would have been £5.50 per head and this taxi came in at £6.90 per head for a door to door private transfer service.

“We have a separate pricing structure for passengers requiring people carriers and this was provided. The actual vehicle was a one-year-old Mercedes Benz People carrier at the cost of £60,000.

“The vehicle the customer took was a six-seater due to the combination of luggage and passengers not fitting into a standard private hire, estate private hire or/ and availability of a black taxi. We price our larger people carriers at roughly 1.3 times the normal rate.

“This fare does indeed start at £17 but does cover all the costs and the first mile. The black cab would technically be £13 if done this way

“The price of £23 last year is disputed, we believe it would been £28 including the barrier fee. There has been no increase in the taxi pricing since June, 2023, when it went up by 20 per cent. There is also a taxi increase due in December this year as per Edinburgh Council’s decision.”