Take a Tokyo taxi at your peril

A taxi from the airport to the city centre is more expensive in Tokyo than anywhere else in the world according to new research – and the fare could cost you up to £200.

Travel money specialists Moneycorp looked at the cost of a taxi ride – not booked in advance – from some of the major international airports in Europe and the rest of the world and results were ranked by cost per kilometre. The results revealed huge differences in price, even within mainland Europe, with taxi fares potentially adding hundreds of pounds onto the cost of a holiday or weekend break.

European destinations fill six of the top seven places for most expensive airport to city centre taxi transfers. But top of the pile is Tokyo. A taxi ride from Tokyo Narita airport to the centre of the city can bust the £200 mark as it is 66 km away at a cost per km of £2.90.   

Ranking by £ per km, Copenhagen is the most expensive airport-city centre taxi transfer in Europe. Although the taxi journey from Copenhagen airport to the city centre is only 8km, the average fare is £34.08, which equates to  £4.26 per km. The next most expensive is Geneva airport to the centre of Geneva. Again the journey is short, only 6km, but will set holidaymakers back an average of £22.63 or £3.77 per km.

On price alone, the 45km taxi ride from Oslo’s Gardermoen airport to the city centre costs an eye-watering £73.45. That means a round trip will set people back almost £150 (£146.90). Oslo is closely followed by Milan Malpensa airport to the centre of Milan, which will leave holidaymakers out of pocket by £70.25.

Location	Airport	Airport to city centre (km)	Cost of taxi one way (converted to £)	£ per km
Denmark, Copenhagen	Copenhagen	8	34.08	4.26
Switzerland, Geneva	Geneva	6	22.63	3.77
Japan, Tokyo	Tokyo Narita	66	191.48	2.90
Belgium, Brussels	Brussels	12	29.66	2.47
Holland, Amsterdam	Schiphol	18	35.59	1.98
Spain, Barcelona	Barcelona	13	25.42	1.96
France, Paris	Charles de Gaulle	23	38.14	1.66
Australia, Melbourne	Melbourne	23	37.30	1.62
Portugal, Lisbon	Portela	9	14.41	1.60
USA, New York	Newark	26	41.18	1.58
Italy, Milan	Malpensa	46	72.03	1.57
Ireland, Dublin	Dublin	14	21.19	1.52
Greece, Athens	Athens International	20	29.66	1.48
USA,San Francisco	San Francisco International	21	29.41	1.40
Germany, Munich	Munich	31	42.37	1.37