A long-considered merger of two of Queenstown's biggest taxi companies could happen within a fortnight, company directors say.
Queenstown Taxis and Alpine Taxis will merge "before the ski season starts", Queenstown Taxis manager David Wright said this week.
Mr Wright said the two companies had been talking about the possibility for "about five years", but it had only become a serious proposition in the past year.
There were "a variety" of reasons for the merger, but he said "ultimately, it's for the customer".
"There's new Transport Agency law being introduced on the 1st of August which incurs extra cost for us, so by merging our operations we will be able to save costs and will also allow us to keep our fares at a reasonable price."
Alpine Taxis manager Marc O'Connor also confirmed the merger as "a process that's been going for quite a while" and referred the Queenstown Times back to Mr Wright for comment.
When asked if the move would open up the market for competitors, Mr Wright replied there was "always room" for competition.
"It's a deregulated system: there's no barriers to agencies' starting a service in Queenstown, so there's no change as far as that goes."
He was unconcerned about the new Greencabs taxi service which started last week and was confident the new Queenstown taxi service would be able to meet the demands of the customers "even better than we presently are doing".
"They [Greencabs] are based in Christchurch and it's a bit difficult up there for them at the moment. So naturally Queenstown is attractive to them, but we welcome the competition; it keeps everybody on their toes."
