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Date Published: 28/06/2024

Cabify joins Uber at Alicante-Elche Airport

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Between the two private transport companies, Alicante airport now has 34 new taxis

Cabify joins Uber at Alicante-Elche Airport

Remember that old saying about buses? You wait ages for one and then two come along at the same time? That well-worn adage is playing out for taxis at Alicante Airport this week as, hours after the news came that Uber was going to be allowed to pick up passengers, a similar private hire company, Cabify, has also joined the ranks.

Thirty Uber cars joined the 204 licensed cabs at the thriving Costa Blanca airport on Wednesday June 26 and just a day later, Aena, Spain’s airport management company, gave the green-light for licences for 9 Cabify drivers. But before we get too excited about these overwhelming numbers, there’s a catch. Only 4 will operate in Alicante – the other 5 will be stationed at Valencia Airport.

So between Uber and Cabify, there’ll be 34 new taxis in Alicante and while it’s not exactly an ultimate solution to the chronic transport shortage on the Costa Blanca, it will certainly reduce waiting times for passengers at both bases, which between them cater to almost 26 million travellers each year.

Recent developments have also meant that the long-awaited project to bring trains direct to the door of Alicante Airport could come to fruition by the end of the decade.

Although the Cabify drivers are only landing in Alicante this week, Aena actually launched ‘Cabify Airport’ more than a year ago, an initiative aimed at making “the passenger pick-up process easier by reducing the meeting time between the user and the driver to a minimum, implementing messages and dynamics aimed at clearly explaining where they should go and the pick-up areas that exist in each case.”

At Alicante-Elche, both Uber and Cabify will have their own ‘taxi ranks’ which will be clearly signposted.

According to Cabify's projections, during the summer of 2024, trips made through the app to both airports will increase by an average of 25%. This increase reflects, according to the company, the interest of users in sustainable mobility alternatives in Valencia and Alicante, where an increase in tourism is expected in both cities this year.

And while there’s no doubt that the average holidaymaker or business person on a work trip is concerned with the environment, it’s safe to assume they’re more worried about standing in a queue outside the airport for an hour after their flight has landed, waiting for a taxi.

In other news: Teenager dies in Orihuela Costa before trial for murder of British expat

Image: Archive

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