The Annoyance of Airport Taxis

by Barrie | November 3rd, 2010   Tweet

We all know how it works at Bali’s Ngurah Rai International Airport if you want a taxi. Go to the taxi counter, tell him your destination and he will give you a price and then you are ushered off to one. Alternatively, you could take your chances with one of the touts offering their services and travel by bemo or private car. However, these can be a hassle, and costly.
My bitch is that you cannot get into a taxi that has just arrived at the airport dropping off travellers. Why? Because there is a monopoly at the airport and it is tightly controlled. So, if you want to obtain a taxi without paying the sometimes exuberant charges, then you have to walk virtually out of the airport grounds and hail a taxi leaving the airport area.
I read an interesting article in the Bali Discovery about illegal taxi operations in the airports around Indonesia and although deemed illegal, the old practices still remain. Apparently, Bali’s Ngurah Rai International Airport is one of them. It seems, according to the article, a similar practice persists in Bali where taxis not owned by a Koperasi Taxi Ngurah Rai Bali are not allowed to pick up arriving passengers from the airport. The Bali taxis operate without meters and charge a set tariff specified destinations across Bali.