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After a long flight to Sydney, immigration, the wait for luggage, and queues for customs and quarantine, the taxi feels like the end of the line for travellers.
Now they will be greeted with a flat fare from Kingsford-Smith International Airport to the CBD, joining cities such as New York and Paris, in a bid to stamp out rip-offs after a litany of complaints about wildly overpriced fares.
A taxi from Sydney Airport to the city will incur a $60 flat fare under a trial starting on November 3.Credit: Dallas Kilponen
As foreshadowed by the Herald in June, the $60 flat fare for the 13-kilometre journey will have a yearlong trial from November 3, after the Independent Pricing and Regulatory Tribunal recommended a shake-up to taxi operations.
Road tolls and airport access fees are not to be passed on to passengers in addition to the fixed fare. The changes do not apply to rideshare operators such as Uber.
The NSW government said the measure would help address rip-offs that blight the experience of landing for tourists, other visitors and returning Sydneysiders, which has led to taxi drivers being issued 1100 fines since the introduction of the Taxi Fare Hotline in November 2022.
In one case, a Sydney driver who refused to use the meter charged an overseas family $188.76 for a trip from the international terminal to a hotel in the CBD. The driver was fined $2000.
The government says the practice of overcharging and refusing to use meters had led to drivers touting for business inside the airport’s arrival hall. About 5000 taxis a day queue to pick up visitors from the international and domestic terminals.
NSW Transport Minister John Graham said many visitors had not received the kind of “warm welcome and fair go” they should expect on arrival, and the trial aimed to address that.
“One bad experience for tourists can ricochet around the world in 2025, and we must be vigilant about maintaining the good image Sydney has earned over decades,” he said. “It’s time for a fair fare, every time.”
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NSW Taxi Council chief executive Nick Abrahim said set fares would provide “certainty and confidence” for passengers and pending the trial’s success was open to further fixed fares between other locations in Sydney.
Sydney Airport chief executive Scott Charlton said the move would bring Sydney into line with such cities as New York and Paris, and help improve the experience of the 40 million people who passed through the airport each year.
The flat fare will be assessed and made permanent if the trial is deemed a success.
Regulator IPART had earlier rejected several suggestions made to its inquiry, including calls for fixed fares to be extended to other Sydney centres such as Parramatta, North Sydney, Sydney Olympic Park and Manly.
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