César Arellano García
La Jornada Newspaper
Monday, September 30, 2024, p. 19
Concessionaire taxi drivers that operate at the Mexico City International Airport (AICM) indicated that the National Polytechnic Institute (IPN) is carrying out a study to determine the number of units that the air terminal requires to improve service to users. The above, they indicated, is to cover the demand before the unfair competition
that they face with application platforms, including Uber and Didi, which offer passengers better rates, because they do not pay compensation for the right of access to the federal zone of their cars.
There is a resolution from the Federal Economic Competition Commission (Cofece), in which it was determined that any increase in the vehicle fleet or the granting of new federal access agreements had to be through auction or competition. Currently, we have been unable to increase because the conditions established by Cofece have not been met. However, in the new airport administration, the IPN has already been tasked with preparing a study so that the units can be increased. We are waiting for that study and obviously for the conditions and procedures that may eventually be imposed on the airport.
said Leonor Pérez Gil, legal advisor to the permit holders.
Insufficient units
Regarding the rates, he pointed out that They are registered with the Ministry of Infrastructure, Communications and Transportation and, in addition, their prices are valid 24 hours a day; There is no increase because it rains or there is more traffic, and these rates are due to various factors, including the payment of pecuniary obligations that each permit holder is responsible for. At a given moment, we will consider doing a study to reduce costs to the extent that this is going forward.
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According to airport data obtained through information requests, from 2016 to April 2023, the vehicle fleet had not increased, which was 1,558 units. Currently seven companies operate in the AICM with 1,587 taxis; However, for the concessionaires they are insufficient regarding the number of passengers, since up to 130 thousand leave and enter the AICM daily.
In this regard, Arinna Esquivel, treasurer of T&M Movilidad, a company that also provides taxi service at the Mexico City airport, reported that the Polytechnic study was only commissioned a week ago, but they estimate that it will be ready in October. He added that revenue from ticket sales decreased up to 50 percent due to unfair competition
of the application platforms, since today permit holders make 3 thousand trips a day when they should make around 6 thousand. Since Uber entered the AICM illegally, we have subsidized all use of federal land and that is why they have very low rates
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According to information from the AICM, from 2019 to March 2022 Nueva Imagen taxis sold one million 307 thousand 613 tickets. In that same period, Confort shipped 167,243; Site 300 one million 195 thousand 721 and Porto Taxi 311 thousand 289 thousand, to mention a few, but it must be considered that sales even decreased in part of 2020 and 2021 by up to 80 percent due to the covid-19 pandemic.
