ALUVA:With the dawn of the computer age, travel has become easier and hassle free. All that anyone now needs to do is make a few clicks on the mouse or pick up the phone and dial the number of a taxi company or any other transport facilitator. The vehicle will come right at your doorstep to ferry you to your destination.
Many companies that offer such transportation facility have set shop in the state and the few names that pop up are the She Taxi and Ola cabs. What won’t come as a surprise is that these taxi services are now eyeing Cochin International Airport as a prospective hub for expansion of their business. With the introduction of tourist friendly measures like Visa on Arrival, the traffic at the airport has witnessed spurt of over 61 lakh in 2014. This is significant increase from the previous year’s count by 15.63 percent.According to She Taxi CEO P T M Sunish, one among the several reasons that work in favour of the city-airport route is the absence of traffic blocks. It is a very profitable route. For short distance intra-city travels, the journey may not be all that profitable since we calculate the cost kilometre basis.
Also, with the introduction of visa on arrival and such facilities, there has been a definite increase in the tourist traffic and it has been a boost for the business,” he said.
The company is at present looking towards making CIAL a base of their operations and the process of getting an approval or the same is ongoing, he said.
“We look forward to harnessing the increasing inflow of tourists to the city via the airport,” he said.
In light of the fierce competition between the unorganised taxi drivers and the organised cab services, an Uber spokesperson said that more and more taxi drivers are coming forward to join their company.
“We see many taxi drivers moving over to become a driver partner with Uber because they recognise the benefits and opportunities that the company’s technology provides. We welcome and invite even more local taxi drivers who have the required clearances, licenses and insurance to apply to become an Uber driver partner and earn a better livelihood for their families,” he said.