Press Release 10/2024
May 2, 2024

The AdC has issued a recommendation regarding the conditions for picking up and dropping off passengers at Lisbon, Porto and Faro airports.
With this recommendation, the AdC aims to promote a fair and favourable competitive environment for consumers in the transport sector, encouraging the adoption of measures that guarantee equal conditions between the different operators, namely ride-hailing services (TVDE, in Portuguese) and taxis.
In particular, the AdC identified that, by being equated with private vehicles (which do not carry out an economic activity), TVDE’s are subject to payments for picking up and dropping off passengers, after exceeding a certain number of free daily accesses. These payments do not apply to other competing operators, such as taxis, raising questions of equity.

Table 1 - Comparison of price and access conditions for TVDE at airports

Source: ANA Website (https://www.ana.pt/pt ) and published tariffs (consultation in March/2024).

In addition, TVDE’s are placed at a competitive disadvantage when it comes to terminal access, as they are the only type of operator without direct access to the terminal door.
The current situation at Portuguese airports hampers competition between different operators when travelling to and from the airport, with a negative impact on the service they offer consumers (e.g. higher prices and lower quality).
With the aim of promoting competition in the market, to the benefit of consumers, the AdC has issued a set of recommendations to the government and concessionaire ANA, in order to minimise the distortions identified at airports in mainland Portugal:

Recommendation 1 - To the Government, as the grantor of the Public Service Airport Concession Contract in Airports located in mainland Portugal: Ensure that parking management by the concessionaire in the airport area in airports located in mainland Portugal does not result in discriminatory, unjustified conditions, from the point of view of their adequacy, necessity, and proportionality, for the purposes of passenger transport service providers, namely, taxis and TVDE.

Recommendation 2 - To ANA, as the concessionaire of the Public Service Airport Concession Contract in Airports located in mainland Portugal: Review the conditions for collecting and dropping off passengers by TVDE service providers at airports, namely tariff and access conditions. In particular, priority should be given to neutral tariff conditions that are not specific to certain service provider(s), in order to minimize the competition distortions identified between two similar types of services (TVDE and taxis).

These recommendations should guide airport options throughout the country.
The AdC restates its commitment to promoting a competitive and equitable environment, favorable to consumers in the transport sector, encouraging the adoption of measures that ensure equal conditions among different operators.