The scheme involving taxi 'transfers' at Gran Canaria Airport, located in Gando, is nearing its end. Spanish Airports and Air Navigation (AENA) will soon install entry and exit barriers with license plate readers to monitor licenses not originating from the municipalities of Telde and Ingenio.
This measure, promoted by AENA and discussed in a meeting with taxi representatives and the Cabildo, aims to ensure that only taxis with the necessary authorization can pick up passengers at the airport premises. The system is expected to be operational from September 15, following a testing period to fine-tune the device.
Taxi licenses from other municipalities wishing to operate at the airport will require a special permit, known in the sector as a 'transfer'. To facilitate this, a tag will be installed on taxi windshields, which will communicate with the online platform managed by the Cabildo's Department of Transport. This platform, responsible for granting 'transfers', will share data with AENA's access control system, enabling real-time verification of passenger pick-up authorizations.
The insular director of Transport, Manuel López, announced that two installation points for these tags will be set up, one in the capital and another in the south of the island, with dates to be communicated shortly. Licenses from Telde and Ingenio already have this identification.
This new system seeks to put an end to the practice of canceling 'transfers' obtained for picking up passengers, a maneuver used by some licenses to bypass the limit of 20 monthly services established after air traffic resumed post-covid pandemic. The cancellation of these permits, according to the text, simply requires notification to the online platform.
The implementation of this control at the airport, driven by AENA, stems from the monitoring committee for sensitive areas for public taxi service provision, which also includes the ports of La Luz and Las Nieves. The possibility of extending a similar system to other sensitive areas, such as the Port of La Luz for cruise passengers, is being considered if requested by the port authorities.
According to data from the Cabildo's online platform, 58,501 'transfers' were approved in 2025, with 14,744 being canceled. The number of permits authorized for licenses from other municipalities, after subtracting cancellations, stands at 43,279, a figure lower than the approximately 60,000 granted in 2019, before the pandemic.
