INDIA. Bangalore International Airport Limited (BIAL) has introduced its very own taxi service, branded “˜The Airport Taxi’, at Bengaluru International Airport.
Hailed as the first service of its kind in India, The Airport Taxi – with a signature logo – differentiates itself from normal city taxis or conventional taxis in look as well as in quality of comfort. It will follow a uniform fare policy and will be tracked by Global Positioning System (GPS).
The new service was inaugurated last week with a flag-off of 1,400 taxis by Bangalore’s Additional Commissioner of Police MA Saleem and BIAL’s senior management. Another 600 will be added by the end of 2012.
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The Airport Taxi differentiates itself from normal city taxis or conventional taxis in look as well as comfort levels |
The classy white taxi fleet will operate with state-of-the art technology and trained, multilingual chauffeurs. The fleet – comprising brands such as Toyota Etios, Maruti Dzire and Mahindra Verito – is fitted with GPS/GPRS, digital fare meters, printers and POS machines to collect payment.
The new service has created employment for over 2,000 drivers and more than 200 jobs in operations and call centres operated by the taxi operators, according to BIAL.
“We at BIAL consider the drivers as brand ambassadors who have a key role in helping us deliver an experience,” said BIAL Vice President, Commercial René Baumann. “We contribute towards enhancing their abilities by providing skill training, defensive driving and basic firefighting. We add to their personal well-being by conducting free eye check-up camps as well.
“Currently they have dedicated taxi holding areas with wash room and cafeteria facilities; in future we plan to add to this facility and include shower facilities, a gas station and car wash. Our attempt is to ease their stressful jobs which will reflect in passenger’s safety and experience. We are delighted to offer this huge fleet and mark a significant change in the transport experience of the city.”
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