A yellow ribbon indicates a striking Paris taxi which takes part in a demonstration in the French capital June 11, 2014.
A yellow ribbon indicates a striking Paris taxi which takes part in a demonstration in the French capital June 11, 2014. REUTERS

New Zealand has the world's highest taxi fares. According to a new survey, a taxi from the city to the airport costs more in Christchurch than anywhere else in the world.

Auckland company Digital Hothouse conducted the survey of taxi fares from 17 cities around the world including New Zealand, Australia, Spain, Russia, U.S. and UK. According to the results, Christchurch had the most expensive taxi fare in dollars at $4.50 per kilometre or a total of $45 for a 10-kilometre ride to the airport.

Queenstown had the second highest taxi fare at $4.38 per kilometre with an 8-kilometre distance to the airport. Australia's Sydney, Perth and Melbourne came after Queenstown with Wellington listed as the fifth most expensive. An airport ride to Wellington airport will cost the traveler $30.

Auckland was sixth on the list with a taxi fare of $3.71 per kilometre. All the fares in the survey were converted to New Zealand dollars.

London's Heathrow Airport was the most expensive outside of Australasia with a taxi fare of $105 from the city to the airport.

Barcelona in Spain was rated the cheapest with a rate of $2.92 per kilometre. A distance of 16 km from the city to the Barcelona airport will cost $47.

Reports said the Digital Hothouse survey was presented in an infographic for a car rental company, Go Rentals and used the site taxifarefinder.com to generate taxi fares from around the world.

In New Zealand, Digital Hothouse called taxi companies and compared rates. It also used Google Maps to determine the distance from the cities to airports.

According to Blue Star Taxis Christchurch general manager Bob Wilkinson, the survey did not account for a comparison of total taxi costs since some fares have airport fees included in the fare.

Wikinson said there were fixed costs imposed on taxi drivers at airports. He added pick-up and drop-off fees varied from city to city. He said the survey on Christchurch taxi fares was done before the airport had reduce its pick-up and drop-off fees for taxi operators on July 1. A trip to the Christchurch airport would now cost $40 if new fees were considered.