Getting a Y-plate cab from the airport? Head to the car park
New ride-hailing cab pick-up point to come into use starting Monday
Anyone ordering a ride-hailing cab from the airport will now have to walk to a new pick-up point located in the main outdoor car park.
Malta International Airport announced that this change will take effect on Monday.
Currently, passengers who book taxis through ride-hailing services like Uber, Bolt, and eCabs are picked up right outside the arrivals hall.
Starting Monday, however, arriving passengers will be required to go down to level -1, pass through the tunnel to the outdoor car park, and take a left to reach the new ride-hailing pick-up point.
The white taxi pick-up zone in front of arrivals will remain unchanged. The Malta Taxi Licensed Association (MTLA) pays approximately €130,000 annually for their dedicated stand at the arrivals hall.
This change affects only ride-hailing service pick-ups; ride-hailing taxis will still be allowed to drop off passengers at the departure gate.
Drivers for ride-hailing services can only accept rides if they are located at least 250 metres away from the airport. Although the new pick-up point is further from arrivals, it is still within the 250-metre limit.
Therefore, drivers will not be allowed to wait at the new pick-up point to accept rides. Instead, they will have to be stationed further away from arrivals.
The decision follows calls from the MTLA two months ago for a separate pick-up point for ride-hailing taxis, located further away from arrivals—an area that white taxi operators pay for.
At the time, the association suggested using the stretch of road leading to Kirkop tunnels, about 260 metres from arrivals, as the new pick-up location for ride-hailing cabs. White taxi drivers argued they were at a disadvantage due to the “unregulated presence of Y-plate vehicles.”