2023-06-02 18:01:00
The comings and goings are almost permanent in front of the gates of Brussels-Charleroi airport, in Gosselies: while holidaymakers get out of their taxis and pack their bags by hand to catch their plane, others line up, a few meters further, to get into a vehicle that will sometimes allow them to return home, sometimes to visit our dear country for a few days.
So many passengers who are sometimes flabbergasted by the prices charged by some taxis. And this is the case, among others, of Emmanuel De Bock. The head of the Challenge group in the Brussels parliament returned from abroad, ten days ago, to go directly to the benches of the hemicycle. The man now intends to denounce “the mafia practices” of certain taxi drivers, some of whom we knew were already refusing trips to Charleroi, deemed too unprofitable. “I did not have time to take the shuttle to Brussels-Midi, so I went directly to the taxi line, indicates the Brussels resident. When my turn arrived, I indicated that I wanted to go to Parliament from Brussels. After hesitating, the driver told me to get in. And once inside the taxi, he told me that I would get it for 240 euros!”
A particularly expensive price that cannot be attributed to the price of fuel. Such a journey, of around sixty kilometres, would only involve a maximum of ten euros in fuel costs. “I had previously inquired on the Internet and such a trip, usually, should have cost me a little more than a hundred euros. 240 euros that I would have had to pay in cash, what is more, it was more expensive than my plane ticket. Unthinkable! So I refused the race and the taximan asked me to get off. I then observed a strange scheme. My “driver” went to the back of the line of taxis and “sold” the fare to the last taxi in line, for compensation.”
Clearly, the last taxi agreed to take me to Brussels for 120 €, and donated 20 € to the first in line to be able to bypass it. “The system is well established. I am scandalized by these scams for tourists from another era which harm both the image of Wallonia and that of Brussels because the airport is called Brussels. When they land at Brussels South Charleroi Airport, foreigners think they are already in Brussels.”
Emmanuel De Bock warned the Walloon regional authorities of this on Tuesday. “It is unthinkable to let things be like this. Especially since everything is done in cash, black. It is important that Wallonia legislates in this area and that Charleroi airport cleans up all this.”
However, the practice would only be the prerogative of a few taxi drivers. On Monday, we tried the experiment. And the race was directly invoiced 120 €. “Prices are fixed with the airport”, we were told.
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