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Airport taxi fares

You can find your fare by using our instant online quote facility. We offer fares in a range of different currencies to make it easier for you. Our fares are paid through Paypal which offers a range of safe and secure payment options. Please always check with us for availability before booking you car.

We have a minimum charge set at the equivalent of 35 miles journey and our fares include tolls and upto 1 hour parking.

Our private hire vehicle types are:

Standard airport taxi:

Kia Sedona CDi2 which carries 6 passengers and can carry luggage of 6 suitcases and 6 hand-baggage. If only 4 passengers are being carried then more luggage space is available.

Executive airport car service:

 Jaguar XF which can carry 4 passengers and 3 suitcases with 3 hand baggage.

 Luxury taxi service:

Jaguar XJ: our top of the range service offers comfort and service for 4 passengers and 3 suitcases and 3 hand-baggage.

Increasing number of one company taxi policies

Last modified on 2010-08-30 13:48:04 GMT. 0 comments. Top.

Increasingly we are seeing a greater number of airports operating a single company policy for taxis operating out of the airport.  The airport companies claim that by restricting the operators on their premises to just the one company they are able to improve standards, but many taxi drivers believe the real reason to be financial. By restricting the operation to just one company the airport is able to greatly increase the charges that it places on the company through the tender process. Taxi companies and airport transfer companies are happy to bid high amounts to get sole control of the facility because they have uncompetitive access to a steady stream of customers who may not know the area or the charges of non-airport based taxis.

Airport taxi do tend to be more expensive than pre-arranged taxis because they have the airport charges to include in the fare. By restricting the number of companies to one, airports are able to auction of the transfer facilities to the highest bidder and those charges invariably are passed on to the customer. The restriction of services is a growing trend around the world.  Airports such as North West Florida Beaches International and Charlotte/Douglas International are currently considering using single company policies. In the UK it is already widespread with a number of airport operating a single supplier policy for airport transfers.

Fortunately the internet has opened up competition so that air passengers are not restricted to 1 high priced taxi company when their flight arrives. A few simple clicks on the computer allows you to compare taxi prices and quality of service allowing you to quickly find a good reliable value for money taxi company to meet you at the terminal. You can get to choose between paying for the cheapest available airport car or sourcing and ordering a quality value for money service with professional drivers. For those looking for an all-round value for money service with quality modern cars and professional reliable drivers then Flightcabs should be the first choice for your travel plans. Operating from a number of airports around the world we offer a quality of service that in many cases beat the price of an authorized airport taxi service. Our drivers are based close to the airports that we service and can be ordered on demand as you land. By the time you pass through baggage and customs in many case the driver will be waiting for you at the meeting point in the terminal to take you to your destination.

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Dreamliner is delayed again

Last modified on 2010-08-28 13:34:08 GMT. 0 comments. Top.

Boeing 787 Dreamliner
Image via Wikipedia

For those of us waiting to get on-board the Boeing 787  Dreamliner to see if it really matches up to the exhibit at Farnborough the news that there’s another delay in delivery is not good. It seems that the first delivery of the new passenger jet will now take place in February 2011 when Japanese airline ANA take delivery. This latest set back is thought to be because of lack of available engines to be used in the final safety checks.

If Boeing are not careful the first commercial flight of the new technology composite aircrafts could be the Airbus A350XWB. Over 500 orders have already been placed for the Airbus counterpart and unless Boeing can get their plan off the ground and into the hands of the airlines they could find more orders going to Airbus as they lose the advantage of being first. So far this year 4 orders for the Boeing 787 have been canceled.

The new composite aircraft will make flying a more comfortable and enjoyable experience as there will be higher roofs, larger windows and higher pressure to help reduce headaches and other problems related to flying. The new generation aircraft will also be much more energy efficient which will allow medium sized aircraft to undertake direct long haul routes. This opens up new opportunities for regional airports to offer long haul destinations which they currently can not do because their runways or facilities can not handle the larger aircraft.

One of the things I really enjoyed was my first flight on the Airbus A380 and it would be great to compare how the new composite aircraft compare to the traditional ones. I guess I’ll have to hold fire on booking next Easter’s break until one of the airline manufacturers get their plane into the air. Looking at those companies that have pre-ordered the Airbus most of them fly out of Heathrow Airport and I would suspect that Heathrow will be one of the first airports to have either the Airbus or Boeing operate from.

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From horsepower to cowpower

Last modified on 2010-08-20 08:49:10 GMT. 0 comments. Top.

At Flightcabs we’re very aware about how we reduce our impacts on the environment. We keep our eyes on the development of vehicles and fuel. One of the things that we constantly look at is the possibility of using bio-fuels. Unfortunately using bio-fuels is not always the best option for wildlife and nature. The two biggest raw materials for bio-fuel is either palm oil or sugar and nether has a particularly good reputation when it comes to habitat destruction and loss of wildlife. So the latest developments in the bio-fuels industry have us interested. It seems that butter can be a source for bio-diesel. There’s a bit more refining to do but it looks very promising.

We would certainly be interested in running our vehicles on  bio-diesel from butter. If it’s affordable and sustainable to produce bio-diesel from butter then it that’s good on a number of fronts. cows can live in a wide range of environments and so countries can have a relatively secure supply of energy and there’s no need to import or transport vast amounts of oil around the world. Dairy farmers will have a much bigger market to sell their milk into. Dairy farmers at the moment are barely breaking even on producing milk and if butter can be used as a form of fuel it will break the stranglehold that supermarkets have on the industry.

There’s still a bit of work to do on dealing with sulphur content to meet the American emission standards but currently it is proposed that butter derived bio-diesel could be mixed with normal diesel to meet the emission standards.

It all makes you wonder how many cows it would take to get your from Heathrow Airport to Gatwick Airport.

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Every two years something special happens

Last modified on 2010-08-20 09:12:09 GMT. 0 comments. Top.

Boeing 787It’s that time again when the world’s aircraft companies and operators descend on Farnborough to show the country what the latest trends in aviation are. Add to that a good splash of amazing historical aircraft and you have one of the best days out. The public open days are on Saturday and Sunday this week and I certainly plan to attend.

The one aircraft that I’m particularly interested in seeing and has already got the media buzzing is the boeing dreamliner. This is the first commercial passenger aircraft to be made from carbon reinforced plastic and offers a completely new future for air travel. It’s said to be extremely fuel efficient which means that this mid-size aircraft will have the same range as the big jets. It’s also very quiet which will please a lot of people living around airports such as Heathrow.

Passenger comfort is greatly improved because of the new materials used to build the aircraft. The materials are stronger than traditional aircraft building materials and do not corrode. This means there’s more headroom  and better air quality for passengers.   The most disappointing part for me though from what I could see from the news reports of the plane is the size of windows. Early mock up’s and designs of the aircraft showed the planes with almost panoramic windows, the actually plane appears to have larger windows but not that much larger than traditional aircraft and that’s a little disappointing.

Hopefully it will not be too long before this aircraft has got all it’s certification and is flying commercially. I’ll certainly be looking forward to taking a flight on the aircraft once it starts operating out of Heathrow. It’s bound to be as exciting as my first flight on the Airbus A380. The dreamliner is probably going to be only the first in a whole line of new super-efficient aircraft with low emissions that are going to be developed over the next few years and that has to be a good thing. Travel is a great thing to be able to do and we need to reduce it’s impact on the planet if we are going to be able to carry on traveling in a sustainable way.

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Goldtrail collapse a warning for the future

Last modified on 2010-08-20 09:15:52 GMT. 0 comments. Top.

For many in the travel trade the collapse of another tour operator is not s surprise, it really was a question of who and when.  In fact Goldtrail will not be the last and we can expect further collapses for the next 18 months to 2 years as the economy starts to settle down again. Low cost and budget tour operators are the ones at greatest risk of collapse because they operate at minimal margins and have lower reserves to fall back on during this time of trouble.

Flightcabs used to try and operate a budget service with low cost taxi transfer to the airport but we changed our business model almost 2 years ago and dropped the bottom end of the market and we’ve not looked back since – we’re now a stronger and expanding company.  When we tried to operate the budget service we were not able to provide quality cars and we were not able to get quality drivers and staff because the pay was so poor. Now that we have moved away from the price conscious market we are able to ensure some of the best quality cars in the airport transfer industry and we can now pick and choose our staff. Our staff earn good money and that means we attract the best drivers available.

Operating a tour company is no different. If you price your holidays 20% or 30% below the industry average then quality suffers. If you buy a holiday that’s priced 30% or more below the industry average then you are not going to get reasonable hotels, staff or service. There’s only so much saving that can be made through economy measures – after that you’re cutting back on quality and that impacts on your reputation and ability to build you business on recommendations. You only have to see the reviews about Goldtrail to see that many people were expecting a lot more for their money than they actually got when going on a Goldtrail holiday. Only part of the blame for the complaints lie with the company tough. The customers also have to take responsibility. They must have known that we they bought such a cheap holiday that it was not going to be that good. You don’t get quality cheaply.

There is no doubt that other tour operators will go out of business over the next 2 years and most of those will be operating at the budget end of the market. If you’re buying at the bottom end of the market the you need to be using your credit card to ensure your money is safe and refunded in a reasonable period of time. 

There’s something that never ceases to amaze me with British people and that is their ‘something for nothing’ attitudes that’s endemic in a large part of society at the moment. They pay bucket-shop prices and are surprised when they get below average holidays. There’s a lot of people who need to get a lot more mature in their understanding over costs and quality of product.

One of the things that happened to us when we moved out of the budget market was our market sifted from being predominately British people to overseas customers. Overseas customers now make up 80% of our passengers in the UK. When customers contact us about transfers there is a very clear difference between British people (including ex-pats) and overseas people. The Brits are only interested in price – it must be cheap, cheap, cheap. Overseas customers are more concerned with the quality and the safety of the car, how reliable is the driver, will the driver wait if they get held up at customs or lost luggage, generally the overseas customer is more concerned about service levels than cost.

So next time you book your 7 night holiday in Turkey for £160 including flights and taxes you really do need to get a sense of perspective on what you are buying and what to expect.

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