19 May, 2008

MALAYSIA Airports BHD said it was aware of the taxi touts at both the Low-Cost Carrier Terminal (LCCT) and the KLIA main terminal in Sepang.

Its chairman, Tan Sri Dr Aris Othman, said although they had received several complaints, these problems were beyond its jurisdiction as they come under the purview of the Transport Ministry and the Entrepreneur and Cooperative Development Ministry.

"We have discussed the matter several times with both ministries. It is for the respective ministries to address the issues," he said during the KLIA telematch held in conjunction with the airport's 10th anniversary.

Aris said it had been a long-standing problem and it did not bode well for the airport.

He added that there must be enough taxis waiting for passengers as they arrive as in the case of Changi airport where taxis are waiting in a queue for passengers while at the KLIA, it is the reverse.

On May 13, StarMetro reported that the queue for taxis was long and many passengers found it frustrating to wait in line and this encouraged the touts to operate.

Many passengers had complained that these touts thrived due to the poor service dished out by the official KLIA limosine operators.

Aris said there were more than 600 budget and premier taxis operating at the LCCT and while waiting for taxis was not a problem, the authorities did not permit these taxis to pick up passengers at the main terminal at KLIA.

The distance between the LCCT and the main terminal is less than 15km

At the main terminal, passengers had to wait for 45 minutes to an hour to get into a limo and the queue weaves along for almost 50m to the point of embarking.

The Transport Ministry's promise to eliminate taxi touts at the airport has yet to see any action by the agency and the problem is only getting worse by the day.

This article is a verbatim copy of the original article from The Star.