Mahmoud Ahmad

 

THE vacillation of the spokesman of the General Authority of Civil Aviation, (GACA) on the report that ranked King Abdulaziz International Airport (KAIA) in Jeddah among the worst airports in the world with regards to services, threw more ambiguity rather than clarity. He first slammed the report saying that it is a survey finding of an individual and also unscientific, and then remarked the next day that GACA is "conscious" that there are some drawbacks in the services in the Jeddah airport. Now which statement do we believe in?



What sparked the debate was the Canadian website which surveyed airports under the “Guide to Sleeping in Airports”, and the result of the survey put KAIA second to last after Islamabad Airport in Pakistan, as worst in the list. Travelers were asked to classify airports in terms of comfort, conveniences, cleanliness and customer services. Our airport (KAIA) was found lackluster, crowded, not clean, services for travelers in short supply, rude immigration officers, uncomfortable meals and limited number of chairs. Sadly all the mentioned above points are extremely true.

 

The listing of the Jeddah airport in the worst bracket is not news to many Saudi residents and Jeddah locals. But what is news is that someone immediately criticizing these findings and defending the airport while slamming the result for not being based on authentic data or attributed to reliable sources.



This defense is hilarious. For the finding are not far from the truth. We, the locals, have been embarrassed by the airport and the services it provides for some time. The first thing that the vast majority of pilgrims, who use this airport as a gateway to the Kingdom, criticize is the delay they face and the extreme overcrowding. Also they repeatedly cite inconvenience in the airport when they exit from this point. The pilgrims are not the only ones facing these hassles, for the people traveling, and those in transit, too have voiced their complaints either at the airline or the airport authorities. So on the face of it there is some truth in what the survey found, and the GACA spokesman too concurred with this fact with his second statement.



One thing I need to say here is that the report critical of the airport, which is very old, will soon be counterbalanced when services in the new KAIA airport, set to be completed in 2015, would be vastly improved.



The GACA spokesman should have accepted the result of this report — especially that it is coming from people who had visited the airport — with a pledge that the new airport would usher in a new positive beginning. He should have apologized to travelers and promised to improve the condition of this current airport until the new one is complete.



One thing that officials at the airport need to tackle until the new airport is completed is to appreciate this report, and instead of criticizing it, should investigate the problems and fix them. Companies today spend large amount of money on research to find problems and seek solutions to ensure 100 percent satisfaction. Computer companies usually hire hackers to test a program to find problems before they launch it. Treat the report as customer feedback and the results should be considered seriously and actions taken to fix most of the problems, if not all.



The airport authorities should at least look into the observations in this report and compare with ground realities to take a direction of action. It is true that the airport lacks many services. It is true that there are not enough chairs at the airport for people to sit. It is true that officials at the airport check-ins and passport control are not friendly most of the time. It’s true that the airport is too small for the large number of people arriving every year for Umrah and Haj.



We should not compare our airport with the Dubai airport because there is no comparison. I am, and I am sure the majority are, more comfortable landing in Dubai airport than landing in Jeddah airport. If there was a questionnaire on which destination is preferred for transit, the vast majority will not choose Jeddah airport. The simple reason being they are better than us, and have solutions for all what is lacking in our airport — even though our airport was built first.



A friend of mine, who travels all over the world and has landed in many international airports, was shocked when he arrived in Jeddah for Umrah last May for the first time in his life. People had warned him about the long procedures at the airport but he did not believe them, and annulled their arguments saying he has seen much worse in other airports. According to him, he landed at around 4 a.m. and was out of the airport at around 11 a.m. and all this delay because of fingerprinting.



To him, this experience was shocking and he hoped that he would never have to go through it again, especially with all airports becoming e-savvy and e-connected in order to save time. In addition to suffering from the treatment, the unclean place and the loss of his luggage added to his woes. And the icing on his woes was the lack of information in everything — from which counter to go for his bags, the direction of the counter, lack of officials in authority and the general lackadaisical effort in assisting him.



We all know that entry and exit are part of the passport department, but a regular passenger does not differentiate between airport and passport department managements or any other authority. It is all happening in one airport.



If the airport authority took the initiative to create a questionnaire about the satisfaction of the airport facilities and services instead of having others to do it for them, then they would have a report card on which they can base the performance of every department, while giving them an insight into areas that need fixing.



I do not want to imagine what the answers would be if such a questionnaire is floated, but this should be done before launching the new airport. For though the decision to expand the airport was late, it is never too late to incorporate solutions that improve services.



Jeddah is the gateway to the two holy cities and the airport needs to be up to mark to receive pilgrims and arrivals from all over the world. Most of all we should not live in denial and deny things that are obvious. The least that could have been done if there is no apology is simply not to comment.

— Mahmoud Ahmad can be reached at mahmad@saudigazette.com.sa and followed at Twitter: @anajeddawi_eng