UPDATE: PASSENGERS could face chaos getting from Melbourne Airport this weekend with hundreds of taxi drivers vowing to refuse customers.
Up to 300 taxi drivers protested at the airport today over the axing of "short-fare queues" and said they will continue the rally at 8am on Monday.
Scuffles broke out during the protest as overwhelmed Australian Federal Police and airport security struggled to control the angry drivers.
Critical Incident Response police were called in to help control protesters, who rallied near the arrivals terminal.
During the protest, departing passengers were still able to access the terminal, but the arrivals terminal was partially affected causing minor delays.
Up to 300 taxi drivers protested over the axing of short-queue fares at Melbourne Airport.
Many cab drivers chose to continue working and were able to access the airport's cab ranks, helping to ease commuter chaos.
Protesters said they wanted to confront airport management about scrapping short-fare queues, saying they were being treated like "slaves".
Driver Lou Burgess urged the airport to restore the system.
"You wait two hours to get a $40 fare, work it out. There are guys here that won't eat tonight," he said.
Driver Ayush Sethi said the airport was exploiting underpaid drivers.
"We work for 2 hours and get an $8 fare, it's not fair. They treat us like slaves, like dogs," he said.
"We work for $8 an hour and they're further exploiting us on top of that."
A taxi driver is held by a police officer at the protest at Melbourne Airport.
Shiv Bhambri said cab drivers who continued to work should have joined them in the protest.
"We're protesting and they're allowing those cabs to pick up directly from the terminal, and we have been waiting here for almost three hours," he said.
Victoria Police Sen-Sgt Andrew Foot said 20 local officers and about the same number of AFP officers responded to the protest.
"They have got a right to protest. Their behaviour, from what I could see, was reasonable in terms of how they acted. There was no obvious violence there, no-one has been injured, no-one has been arrested. In terms of that it went reasonably well," he said.
The taxi driver is led away by police.
He said police had contingency plans in place and would do the same for Monday's follow-up protest.
"We had some plans in place to block the road if need be and divert cars if it got that bad but we have managed to resolve that without that occurring. As you can see, traffic has flowed pretty well all morning," he said.
"We will certainly be prepared and we will certainly be working closely with our AFP colleagues."
Victorian Taxi Association CEO David Samuel said the VTA wanted to sit down with Melbourne Airport and discuss the issue.
The taxi drivers have vowed to continue their protest at Melbourne Airport.
"Obviously it is difficult for Melbourne Airport to meet today because there is a lot going on but once tensions calm down we hope we can sit there with them and perhaps some drivers and have sensible discussion," he said.
Matt Francis, General Manager of Corporate and Public Affairs at Melbourne Airport, said airport management was willing to negotiate over the short fare changes, but cab drivers needed to respect those arrangements.
"If the drivers and the industry want to talk to the airport about a better way to handle short fares, (we're) very happy to have that conversation. But we need to get a commitment from the industry that all of the drivers will abide by those rules," Mr Francis said.
Despite threats that drivers would boycott fares from the airport over the weekend, he said the majority of drivers wanted to do business with the airport.
"There are still plenty of taxis who are willing to pick and drop off fares," he said.
"The majority of drivers did not participate in the blockade today, we're talking about a minority. It is probably the same minority who weren't playing by the rules when we had the last system in place, and there not doing any favours to their fellow drivers or passengers who are waiting for a fare," he said.
He said the protest didn't affect airport operations and contingency plans would again be rolled out on Monday if the protest resumed.
"Flights were not delayed, people were still able to get on their way, whether by taxis who weren't part of the blockade, or by other arrangements such as Skybus."
The drivers gathered after a text message encouraged them to block entrances at Tullamarine between 10am and noon.
The airport axed its short-fare queue on Wednesday, after it was claimed it was allegedly rorted by about 200 drivers a day.
The text message read: "We can't just be quiet and accept this abuse. I ask every taxi driver to please come to the airport on Friday 3rd of May at 10am and block all entries to airport until our voice is heard."
The Herald Sun understands a hand-written flyer was also being handed out.
Previously, drivers who waited in the airport's holding yard at Tullamarine and picked up a passenger going to a nearby destination, had been allowed to return to the airport, bypass the yard and head straight to the terminal taxi rank.
Now, all cabbies must head to the holding yard.
Taxi drivers earn an average of $12 an hour. It is illegal to refuse a short fare.
Melbourne Airport spokeswoman Anna Gillett said the airport had consulted the industry before implementing the changes and initial feedback showed taxis queueing times in peak periods had fallen by up to 20 minutes.
"Ultimately, the uninterrupted flow of taxis from the normal queuing system now means that all taxis wait for less time," she said.
Professor Allan Fels urged the State Government to respond to his report into the troubled industry.
"These problems would be less likely to arise if there were a decision on the taxi report. That report includes recommendations in increases in short fares and decreases in long fares,’’ Prof Fels said today.
Tourism Minister Louise Asher said she was greatly concerned about the blockade.
"The airport is a major tourism asset for Victoria. It is 24 hour. It is curfew-free," Ms Asher said.
"We don’t need this today. I think people can talk sensibly, talk rationally but to actually stop people getting in and out - that is not the way you resolve a dispute."
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