Evaluating Nigerian airports

It was a surprising score, given that the government over the past couple of years has gone to great lengths to tout its renovation programmes of airports nationwide. The report placed the nation’s principal gateway, the Murtala Internation Muhammed Airport in Lagos, in the 10th position as the worst in Africa, while the Nnamdi Azikiwe […]

It was a surprising score, given that the government over the past couple of years has gone to great lengths to tout its renovation programmes of airports nationwide. The report placed the nation’s principal gateway, the Murtala Internation Muhammed Airport in Lagos, in the 10th position as the worst in Africa, while the Nnamdi Azikiwe International Airport in Abuja was rated 7th worst in Africa. The Port Harcourt International Airport was rated at the sixth worst. The publication claims to document information on airports and the people who sleep in them. Apparently the ratings were determined through a survey of such facilities around the world.
 The government has done much to renovate the physical structures of the country’s airports, and introduced innovative ideas, some which, like the aerotroplis concept, have yet to be concretised.  But physical structures alone don’t make airports excellent, and the survey made clear that this was not a factor in its consideration. Intangibles such as passenger comfort at airports rather than physical structures were the yardsticks. And that is probably true because Nigeria, particularly its public service, is famous for its poor maintenance culture, and services are generally substandard as a result. According to the survey, most complaints about Nigerian airports revolved around a lack of maintenance and organized passenger services. Complaints ranged from dirty floors and unhygienic toilet facilities, to lack of functional air-conditioning, limited and overly expensive catering facilities, and questionable security procedures, interminable delays for luggage clearance collection, embarking and disembarking in inclement conditions, to officials demanding for bribes.  Indeed, the problem of luggage clearance is so huge that most passengers prefer having them, no matter how bulky, in the aisle, instead of in the cargo hold, causing much discomfort to others.
The spokesperson for the Federal Airports Authority of Nigeria (FAAN), Mr Yakubu Dati has dismissed the result of the survey, insisting that ‘the world is impressed with the improvements in Nigerian airports’.    That may indeed be true if only physical appearances are the only criteria. Moreover, the website may not be an important player in the aviation industry. And its narrow focus on people sleeping at airports is a problem, because Nigerian airports, at least for now, are not designed to allow for passengers to sleep around.  Anyone who uses Nigerian airports would agree that the airports are gleaming; but the survey is all the same important because it points to the fact that there’s much to be done to improve services. The often irritating presence of touts at busy airports has not abated and passengers fall prey to fraudsters. The major security lapse concerns the operations of airport taxi cabs. In more organized airports, regular taxis form a queue and pick up passengers in the order in which they arrive. The taxi rank is usually situated at the exit of the terminal building and constantly monitored by airport security.   At some of the busiest airports in Nigeria however, airport taxis are haphazardly arranged and outside the security perimeters of the airports. Occasions have arisen in which inbound plane passengers were robbed of their belongings by gangs posing as regular taxi drivers.
 Attempts have been made in the past to improve airport services through public-private sector partnership, but these have been mire in controversy over proprietary rights and concession processes.
The concessionaires, especially the airport taxi operators, complain of the high charges imposed by FAAN, charges that are then passed on to customers. In many of the new airports, the shop owners complain of exorbitant rent charges and electricity bills. Consumer protection groups argue that because FAAN asks each passenger to pay a “service charge”, these ancillary services should be provided. Taking a taxi from the airport, or having a meal there, should not be more expensive than anywhere else.   The Ministry of Aviation should consider the criticisms that users have expressed as a wakeup call to give services at airports a pride of place for deliberate and sustained upgrade to match the spruced up structures.