VILNIUS — Vilnius International Airport made a complaint Wednesday to Lithuania’s Competition Council alleging that the top three taxi companies for its public tender are colluding to raise prices for passengers.

Taxi fares for vehicles hailed at the airport are notoriously high, being at least four times the price of [private_supervisor]cheaper competitors.

“I hope the council will assess the information received and will present their findings,” Vilnius International Airport CEO Tomas Vaišvila said in a press release. “The airport is the gateway to our town and country. Driving in a taxi is often the first contact a person will be confronted with in the urban service sector,” he said adding that he didn’t want people to leave with a sour taste in their mouth.

Until October last year Martono Taksi was the only company with a spot in front of the arrivals terminals, but since then other companies were given the chance to bid for spots. The airport is concerned that the new competition did not achieve its goal — to reduce prices for passengers.

Martono Taksi fought back against the claims of unfair price fixing saying that they were forced into the high fares because of the high airport fees levied against them for spots in front of the terminal.

The director of the company admitted to Baltic Reports that a flagfall of 10 litai (€2.90) is levied with a charge of 6 litai per kilometer thereafter. Cheaper taxis in Vilnius charge a 2 litai flagfall with a 1.50 litai per kilometer rate.

“The airport is doing fixed pricing at 3,700 litai per month per place at the airport. Because there are only four or five planes landing per day, we need to make a big price to justify it,” Martono Taksi director Ričardas Krukovas told Baltic Reports. “We know the airport needs money, but we told him two weeks ago that they by charging these prices there would be problems.”

Vaišvila said the airport carried out a passenger survey that showed that more than 26 percent of passengers use the airport taxi services, amounting to around 359,000 passengers annually.

The three companies — Cheap Taksi, Merselita and Martono Taksi — pay for spots in front of the terminal. [/private_supervisor] [private_subscription 1 month]cheaper competitors.

“I hope the council will assess the information received and will present their findings,” Vilnius International Airport CEO Tomas Vaišvila said in a press release. “The airport is the gateway to our town and country. Driving in a taxi is often the first contact a person will be confronted with in the urban service sector,” he said adding that he didn’t want people to leave with a sour taste in their mouth.

Until October last year Martono Taksi was the only company with a spot in front of the arrivals terminals, but since then other companies were given the chance to bid for spots. The airport is concerned that the new competition did not achieve its goal — to reduce prices for passengers.

Martono Taksi fought back against the claims of unfair price fixing saying that they were forced into the high fares because of the high airport fees levied against them for spots in front of the terminal.

The director of the company admitted to Baltic Reports that a flagfall of 10 litai (€2.90) is levied with a charge of 6 litai per kilometer thereafter. Cheaper taxis in Vilnius charge a 2 litai flagfall with a 1.50 litai per kilometer rate.

“The airport is doing fixed pricing at 3,700 litai per month per place at the airport. Because there are only four or five planes landing per day, we need to make a big price to justify it,” Martono Taksi director Ričardas Krukovas told Baltic Reports. “We know the airport needs money, but we told him two weeks ago that they by charging these prices there would be problems.”

Vaišvila said the airport carried out a passenger survey that showed that more than 26 percent of passengers use the airport taxi services, amounting to around 359,000 passengers annually.

The three companies — Cheap Taksi, Merselita and Martono Taksi — pay for spots in front of the terminal. [/private_subscription 1 month] [private_subscription 4 months]cheaper competitors.

“I hope the council will assess the information received and will present their findings,” Vilnius International Airport CEO Tomas Vaišvila said in a press release. “The airport is the gateway to our town and country. Driving in a taxi is often the first contact a person will be confronted with in the urban service sector,” he said adding that he didn’t want people to leave with a sour taste in their mouth.

Until October last year Martono Taksi was the only company with a spot in front of the arrivals terminals, but since then other companies were given the chance to bid for spots. The airport is concerned that the new competition did not achieve its goal — to reduce prices for passengers.

Martono Taksi fought back against the claims of unfair price fixing saying that they were forced into the high fares because of the high airport fees levied against them for spots in front of the terminal.

The director of the company admitted to Baltic Reports that a flagfall of 10 litai (€2.90) is levied with a charge of 6 litai per kilometer thereafter. Cheaper taxis in Vilnius charge a 2 litai flagfall with a 1.50 litai per kilometer rate.

“The airport is doing fixed pricing at 3,700 litai per month per place at the airport. Because there are only four or five planes landing per day, we need to make a big price to justify it,” Martono Taksi director Ričardas Krukovas told Baltic Reports. “We know the airport needs money, but we told him two weeks ago that they by charging these prices there would be problems.”

Vaišvila said the airport carried out a passenger survey that showed that more than 26 percent of passengers use the airport taxi services, amounting to around 359,000 passengers annually.

The three companies — Cheap Taksi, Merselita and Martono Taksi — pay for spots in front of the terminal.[/private_subscription 4 months] [private_subscription 1 year]cheaper competitors.

“I hope the council will assess the information received and will present their findings,” Vilnius International Airport CEO Tomas Vaišvila said in a press release. “The airport is the gateway to our town and country. Driving in a taxi is often the first contact a person will be confronted with in the urban service sector,” he said adding that he didn’t want people to leave with a sour taste in their mouth.

Until October last year Martono Taksi was the only company with a spot in front of the arrivals terminals, but since then other companies were given the chance to bid for spots. The airport is concerned that the new competition did not achieve its goal — to reduce prices for passengers.

Martono Taksi fought back against the claims of unfair price fixing saying that they were forced into the high fares because of the high airport fees levied against them for spots in front of the terminal.

The director of the company admitted to Baltic Reports that a flagfall of 10 litai (€2.90) is levied with a charge of 6 litai per kilometer thereafter. Cheaper taxis in Vilnius charge a 2 litai flagfall with a 1.50 litai per kilometer rate.

“The airport is doing fixed pricing at 3,700 litai per month per place at the airport. Because there are only four or five planes landing per day, we need to make a big price to justify it,” Martono Taksi director Ričardas Krukovas told Baltic Reports. “We know the airport needs money, but we told him two weeks ago that they by charging these prices there would be problems.”

Vaišvila said the airport carried out a passenger survey that showed that more than 26 percent of passengers use the airport taxi services, amounting to around 359,000 passengers annually.

The three companies — Cheap Taksi, Merselita and Martono Taksi — pay for spots in front of the terminal.[/private_subscription 1 year]

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