Sydney Airport Transfers with Kris Korkian from Penguin Limo

Our Manly interviews the owner of Sydney's biggest global limo service.

OM:
First off, please describe what Penguin Limos does.

PL:
What we do is, we're a limousine company, but our cars are 95% sedans. We only have one stretched limo, so we concentrate on the sedan work. Of course, when I say sedan, they are all luxury European cars like the 7 series BMW, S-Class Mercedes as well as the top of the line Australian Holden Capri.

Airport transfers are 90% of our work. People generally don't understand that airport transfers are not just picking someone up and dropping them at the airport. Part of what we do is a meet and greet service when passengers are picked up from the airport, which is something regular taxis don't do. If you need to organize a car for yourself or a corporate person, they don't want to stand in a taxi queue for 45 minutes. If you organize an airport transfer with us, we monitor the flight and make sure the car is right outside the terminal, waiting to get you to your destination. If you're the CEO of a company and you spend half an hour waiting, that's worth a lot of money.

Our driver's also go into the terminal and wait with a sign displaying the client's name, we meet people at the baggage carousel if it's a domestic airport. So not just for corporates, if someone has their mother arriving and she needs assistance with luggage, we are right there in the carousel holding a sign with her name on it. All of this is included in our prices. At the end of the day it's probably $20 more than a taxi.


OM:
Ok, can you tell us in general, about the affordability of the limo service?

I want people to know they shouldn't be scared because they see that it's a  limousine service with luxury cars and all that. As I said, it's only $20 more, on average, than a taxi and that's for anywhere in Sydney. So if someone rings up and says "I want a rough price from the airport to Manly", a taxi would be around $70-$75, so our price is around $95-$110 depending on whether or not they want a meet and greet service.

We own 7 cars ourselves but there are a lot more single operators that are contracted to us, for instance we did a big conference for a Japanese pharmaceutical company, they had their staff visit a conference in Sydney and at one time, from the airport, we actually did 55 cars at the same time, so we can handle any volume of work. We do work for the Emirates, we provide 1st class passenger rides to and from the airport, that's included in their airfares when they book. We have sub-contractors for that and we are the biggest in the Northern Beaches and North Shore. There is no one as big as us.

We do guarantee availability, which means if a client calls and says "I need a car", Penguin will never say "sorry, I can't get you a car", it's always no problem. Obviously they have to give us at least a few hours notice but we do not say "no, there is no cars", it's a company policy we have, because we can reach so many sub-contractors.

We do have people movers as well, for a family of 5 or 6 or people who go to the airport with a lot of luggage. We have Mercedes Vianos, top of the line people movers, they can't be compared to Toragos which are $35,000, while the Vianos are $85,000. They are equipped with TV screens, DVD players and all the bells and whistles.


OM:
I understand you also offer baby seats?

Just to give you an example, we actually own 15 baby seats and restraints. I can tell you confidently, in Australia, no one does it as good as us. Taxis will come to you with a baby seat (if they remember it), not even fitted. We have 3 types, we cater for the very little ones, like 2 weeks old to 6 months, backwards facing. We cater for 1, 2, 3 year olds who use regular baby seats, and we cater for 5 to 6 year olds who may need baby boosters because they are not big enough to just put in a normal seatbelt. So we have all 3 types. So after you make a booking, the car will come to you with the seat already professionally fitted. So there is no stress you know. I should mention I have kids myself and I went though the period of how stressful it is to cater for babies.

So safety is a huge issue, it's not just about driving people from one point to another. Our Chauffeurs undergo random drug tests and random alcohol tests.



OM:
They must have immaculate driving records.

PL:
Definitely, we have high standards in making sure that when they hit a certain number of points on their license, we actually suspend them, until they get some points back. We don't take chances. This is not just a taxi or shuttle service business. It's a professional business yet it's very affordable. Of course, it costs slightly more than a taxi but people that try our service don't go back to taxis.

OM:
I was reading about another professional touch, that your drivers are uniformed?

PL:
Yeah, our drivers are also recognized by our regular clients even if they've never seen the driver before. Other companies know as well, when our drivers walk into the arrivals lounge, holding a sign for one of our clients.

OM:
Ok, so do you do any smaller or regional airports or just the Manly, Northern Beaches area?

PL:
We service all over Australia. In fact we can organize limo airport transfers in Sydney, any other part of Australia and  globally as well. We have affiliations with about 800 companies all over the world. We're part of something called The National Limousine Association, there's only a handful of companies in Australia, probably 3 or 4 that are part of this association. It's global, based in the United States and once you become a member it's like a directory. They have recognized companies all over the world, so if a client is going on a 6 month tour around the world and they say "here's our itinerary, organize our transfers", we can handle that. There will be a chauffer there holding a sign with their name on it. So this is something that very few airport transfer companies can match.


Also, we offer satisfaction guaranteed. In the unlikely event that we are more than 15 minutes late on any booking, the ride is free. We don't charge.

OM:
So I assume it happens very rarely.

PL:
Of course, it's an unlikely thing. But there are people who think how reliable is it really? And I say, try us, if we are over 15 minutes late, it's free! And 15 minutes is not the end of the world. Some people wait 45 minutes for a taxi.

OM:
And that works in conjunction with flight monitoring?

PL:
Yeah, we have software that actually manages that by tracking flights. All the bookings are sent to our chauffeurs by email, every chauffer has got a Blackberry. Like we actually know flights that are cancelled and flights that are delayed.

OM:
Tell me more about your Prius cars.

PL:
We have the first black Toyota Prius (eco-car) in Australia, so we do offer that as well. We've just completed a simple website www.greenlimoservice.com.au. It's a new limo service that's priced the same as a taxi, which we can afford to do as the Prius is a hybrid car. The expenses are not as much as our BMWs. Prices start at $40 including GST, but that's not for 3 - 4 passengers. That's for 1 or 2 at most, usually environmentally conscious business people who don't want a v8 taking them to the airport, and at the same time it's about half price.



OM:
So what are the methods people can use to actually book a limo or airport transfer?

PL:
Telephone on 1800 886 532, 24 hours a day, anytime, it's never to late to book. We have online reservation at www.penguinlimo.com.au and that's monitored 24 hours, and they can even do it by SMS as well. That's a mobile number which is 0414 680 211

I'd also like to add that while we are affordable, we do not compromise on quality with what we offer. We can also cater for any sized group. It could be one passenger it could be 50. We subcontract buses, coaches, 12 seaters, 20 seaters, so we do it all.