The average cost of a taxi ride from the airport to city centre in Europe

If you’re arriving at the Milan airport and heading to the city centre, you may want to find a way to get there that doesn’t consist of taking a taxi.

The fare from the Milan-Bergamo airport is the most expensive in Europe, according to a study carried out by online airports guide Airmundo.com. On average, that particular ride will cost passengers 105 euros (R1 800).

Travellers in Europe who prefer to take a taxi to reach the city centre spend average of 40 euros (R685) to get there. The average length of the ride is 34 minutes.

Galleria Vittorio Emanuele II, a shopping mall in Milan. Picture: iStock

Those are some of the findings of Airmundo.com which conducted an investigation into the fares at the 50 busiest airports on the European continent. As could be expected, it’s the airports situated furthest from the city centres that most break passengers’ budgets — and very often, these are the airports where many low-cost carriers operate.

For example, Milan-Bergamo airport, with taxi fares as high as 105 euros to get to the city centre, is served by Ryanair. The airport is located around 45 km out, like its neighbor Malpensa airport, where the average taxi fare is 95 euros (R1 625). Milan also counts a third airport, Linate, which is closer to the city centre.

The taxi fare ranking sees London take spots in the top three most expensive with Stansted and Luton. Travellers from these airports must account for a taxi budget between 99 and 104 euros (R1 690 and R1 780) to get close to Big Ben.

Gatwick, where numerous traditional carriers like Emirates and Lufthansa are based, also becomes a pricey arrival point for passengers heading into town, with an average taxi fare coming in at 93 euros (R1 590) compared to 77 euros (R1 320) for the colossal Heathrow, which has the densest air traffic in Europe.

Palace of Westminster and Big Ben in London. Picture: iStock

More than 80 million passengers flew through Heathrow last year.

In France, taxi fare from Paris’s Charles de Gaulle airport costs an average of 55 euros (R940), putting it at tenth place, while Orly comes in with cheaper fares, averaging 35 euros (R600) for 22nd place.

Meanwhile, passengers arriving at Antalya in Turkey pay only 8 euros (R137) on average for their ride.

Taxi rides which don’t break the bank can also be found heading out from Eastern Europe’s airports, with an average fare for Warsaw costing 9 (R154) euros and one from Bucharest costing 10 euros (R171).

For more news your way, download The Citizen’s app for iOS and Android.