Residents of the center and north enjoy a direct connection to Terminal 3 at Ben Gurion Airport by train, but everyone else is forced to travel by expensive taxi.
While the competition among taxis to Ben Gurion Airport is open, at the exit from the airport, the Hadar Lod taxi station won, which pays millions of shekels a year in royalties to the Airport Authority. The station's drivers pay thousands of shekels a month in dispatch fees, are required to have taxis available at all times, and are subject - like everyone else - to the Ministry of Transportation's price list.
This price is, of course, passed on to the consumer.
Want more news, videos and stories? Join the Haredim 10 WhatsApp channel >>
In addition, taxi services operate to Jerusalem and Haifa - also under a concession from the Airports Authority, which is intended to maintain a level of service for passengers.
However, according to a report by Nitai Anabi on Galei Tzahal, this week this duopoly will be broken: a new bus line between Jerusalem and Ben Gurion Airport will open, and it will operate 24 hours a day, six days a week.
The price: only 16 shekels, instead of 64 shekels in a taxi service, and almost 300 shekels in a taxi.
Menachem Bar-Haim, from the management of Hadar Lod, welcomed the move in a conversation with Galts: "Any transportation improvement for the welfare of passengers is good. Taxis will continue to provide taxi services from Ben Gurion Airport to Israeli citizens and tourists with professionalism and courtesy. The cost of a taxi ride from Ben Gurion Airport is fair and is under the supervision of the Ministry of Transportation.".
The capital's tourism industry is also happy about the new line. Maoz Yinon, one of the owners of Avraham Hostel, told the Israeli Broadcasting Corporation: "Until now, tourists would come to Israel and sleep in a discounted hostel and sometimes pay the price of a plane ticket for the taxis that connect Jerusalem and Ben Gurion Airport.".
By the way, the high-speed train line between Jerusalem and Tel Aviv is planning a stop at Ben Gurion Airport. The connection will be completed next year.
