r/Glasgow Tools

Uber is private hire, so like any other private hire they can legally operate anywhere in the country, as long as certain conditions have been met, regardless of which council licenced them.

A private hire cannot sit about in an area they are not licenced in to wait on jobs, but they can pick up and drop off outside their licensed area as long as:

a) they were sitting waiting inside their own licenced area when an out-of-area job was accepted, or

b) while they are still on a job which is ending outside their area, they can accept a follow on job starting in that area, or

C) After they have completed an out-of-area job and are on the way back to their own area, can accept a job starting in the area they dropped off in or in any area they are passing through while returning.

The whole idea is so that drivers and controllers can limit how many miles a car is running about with empty seats. If a Glasgow driver runs out to Edinburgh with a bunch of passengers, ideally they would be able to line up a job from somewhere in that rough area coming back towards Glasgow. Or say a passenger from Aberdeen is flying into Glasgow, they could have an Aberdeen driver come to Glasgow to pick them up and take them back up north.

Now, all that said, Uber is actually fairly restrictive to prevent drivers abusing the system. To be able to accept jobs picking up at the airport, drivers need to wait in a waiting area in Hillington Industrial Estate.

Long story short. Yes. Uber drivers (or any private hire firm) can pickup at Glasgow Airport regardless of where in the country they are licenced from.