Tenerife South Airport’s Taxi Queue: An Unwelcome Experience for Travelers
The president of the Ashotel hotel association, Jorge Marichal, conveyed his profound frustration this Saturday regarding the “unacceptable” situation of queues lasting several hours that passengers at Tenerife South airport must endure in order to secure a taxi.
“The unacceptable impression we project to residents and tourists who, after hours of travel, aim to reach their destination only to be met with long queues for taxis is lamentable. It is illogical, inefficient, and many individuals fail to grasp why vehicles arriving at the departure terminal to drop off passengers must depart empty due to a municipal license from Granadilla de Abona, particularly when there is a significant demand for this service,” lamented Marichal.
Towards the end of 2023, Ashotel urged the Cabildo of Tenerife to declare the area around Tenerife South airport, which ranks seventh in passenger volume within the AENA national network, as a sensitive zone, a designation that would facilitate an urgent resolution to the incessant queuing issues, especially during peak season at the arrivals terminal.
Ashotel subsequently recommended that, if there is an inability to implement an innovative system to alleviate this congestion, at the very least, successful practices from other major airports should be emulated, such as Madrid Barajas, where taxis from 54 municipalities within the Community of Madrid (including the capital) are permitted to operate collectively at the airport.
On this subject, Marichal also contends there should be no limitations on taxi licenses at this facility, and if a vehicle not registered in Granadilla desires to operate an exit service from the airport to another location on the island, it ought to be allowed to do so without needing a specific reservation exclusive to taxis from the municipality where Tenerife Sur is situated, as though it were a privilege.
“Let us remember that this infrastructure is funded by the taxes of all Spaniards, not solely by those living in Granadilla,” he emphasises.
Moreover, the stipulation that taxis not registered in Granadilla may only drop off passengers at the airport while having to return empty “contradicts the principles of European decarbonisation in the transport sector; Being more efficient and transporting passengers in only one of the two possible directions is contradictory, both in terms of the pollution it causes and the necessity of two taxis operating when one would suffice,” explained the president of Ashotel, who noted the significant mobility issues that Tenerife faces along its principal transport routes.
Additionally, a year ago, Ashotel suggested a potential resolution involving the establishment of a set of clear and measurable indicators to activate the entry permissions for taxis from other tourist regions of Tenerife.
While the hotel sector believes in the capacity for self-regulation to determine these indicators, they propose the introduction of a taxi flow coordinator at the airport or a stop manager, a professional tasked with receiving or verifying this information who is respected across the board and is responsible for granting entry to taxis when necessary.
