TAXI passengers at Cairns airport face being slugged an extra $2 on top of their normal fare as part of a secret new levy.

Card-operated boom gates were activated near the Jetstar and Virgin Blue departures area at the northern end of the domestic terminal last week.

Sources say taxi drivers and other commercial passenger vehicles will soon have to pay each time they access them.That cost will then be passed on to customers.

Access cards have been issued to every taxi driver in the city, numbering more than 500.

Airport management has refused to comment on the levy but taxi drivers who spoke to The Cairns Post said it was likely to be introduced within weeks and would start at $2.

A similar fee is used at other airports, including Brisbane.

The drivers said they were concerned at the "sneaky" way the cards had been introduced by the airport, without consulting owners and drivers.

"It is the most underhanded thing you’ve ever seen," said one driver. Another driver, Jason, said it would have been "nice to know about this beforehand".

However, a spokeswoman for Cairns Ports, which operates the airport, said "significant consultation" had been undertaken with Black & White Taxis about the move from manned to automated facilities.

The spokeswoman said the gates were required to satisfy security arrangements and the staged construction of the domestic terminal.

However she would not comment on the levy, saying it was a "commercial matter between Cairns Ports and Black & White Taxis".

"Nothing is finalised and with the sale of the airport, we don’t know how it will proceed," she said.

Black & White Taxis fleet supervisor Chris Simmons also would not comment on the levy, saying talks with airport managers were "at a delicate stage".

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