Poor rating of Port Harcourt airport causes stir

The recent rating of Port Harcourt International Airport by SleepingInAirport.net, a website that monitors the activities of airports around the globe, as the worst not only in the world, but also in Africa, has stirred up controversy nationwide. In Port Harcourt and indeed at Omagwa in Ikwerre local government area of Rivers State where the […]

The recent rating of Port Harcourt International Airport by SleepingInAirport.net, a website that monitors the activities of airports around the globe, as the worst not only in the world, but also in Africa, has stirred up controversy nationwide. In Port Harcourt and indeed at Omagwa in Ikwerre local government area of Rivers State where the facility is located, the issue has dominated debate among different segments of the public.
The issue is on the lips of visitors, passengers, cab drivers, food and newspaper vendors that operate at the airport route as well as staff of the Federal Airports Authority of Nigeria (FAAN). A driver that conveyed this reporter from Port Harcourt to Omagwa, without knowing his mission, lamented the poor state of infrastructure at the facility.
“This poor rating is very shameful. It is a very big embarrassment to Nigeria before the international community,” the middle-aged man noted. “There is nothing to write home about the airport, I do airport cab from Port Harcourt to Omagwa on a daily basis  and I have been in this trade four more than six years, so I know much about the airport.”
The driver, who declined to be named, explained that until the recent re-modeling of the airport all its facilities had broken down. “Nobody ventured to step into their toilet facilities. They were dirty and stinking. The taps were not running,” he added.
“The attitude of the staff to passengers is the worst embarrassment a first time visitor would receive from a Nigerian airport. Recently, I conveyed a white man that flew in from France. The ‘Oyibo’ man lamented the lackadaisical attitude of the staff whom he complained were rude to him for asking a simply question,” the driver narrated.
At a newspaper stand close to the VIP Lounge entrance, the rating was a subject of discussion among ‘free readers.’ A young man suspected to be a driver retorted: “Yes, they are right in their rating and that serves the management right. This will make them sit up. Upon all the millions they are making they cannot provide the needed facilities … I have conveyed so many prominent men and women from the airport to their various destinations and they shared their embarrassing experience about the airport with me.”
SleepInAirport.net conducts the annual surveys by asking travellers to rate their experiences based on services and facilities available within the terminal, cleanliness, customer service, and comfort. The website said voters suggested that the airport should also win the title of the world’s most corrupt airport.
It adduced three reasons why the airport was so rated. The report revealed that most of the staff were unpleasant and are very unhelpful whenever passengers approach them to clarify an issue, that the “lack of comfort is another reason given for the poor rating of the airport” and that it has “poor infrastructure.”
A first time visitor will first be accosted by the rowdiness at the entrance to the ticketing area. The first embarrassment you get is the nuisance of cab vendors and touts who would stop at nothing to get you board their vehicles.
“Oga do you need a cab?” Where are you going, we have clean vehicles that will convey you to your destination, Sir, can I help you?” “Do you have any load, let me carry it for you, there is available vehicle that will convey you,” these were the barrage of questions that confronted this reporter as soon as he approached the VIP Lounge.
There are no serious security checks at the airport’s main gate. The movement of vehicles in and around the facility is not well coordinated, the reason why all manner of people find their way there.
Mr. Lawrence Opus, a staff of one of the multi-national oil companies in Port Harcourt, narrated his experience in the hands of a cab driver.
 “It was a bit late. I arrived from Abuja with the last flight. It was about 9.30 pm; as soon as I departed the arrival terminal I was accosted by this young man who approached me to board his car. We settled for a price and we set out for the journey back to Port Harcourt,” Opus said.
“As we approached a lonely part of the airport road the young man brought out a substance that looked like perfume and wanted to spray it in the vehicle. I suspected his evil motives because I have read stories of how people like that hypnotise passengers and rob them of their belongings. At that point, I struggled with him because I was by the driver’s side,” he added.
“I was able to overpower him and collected the substance from him and I stepped on the brake, the car stopped and I got out. I would have been robbed if not for my vigilance,” Opus said, blaming the airport’s management for not regulating the activities of visitors. 
Efforts made to speak with the airport cabs’ association’s leadership failed as they were unwilling to discuss the issue. But a member of the association, who pleaded anonymity, said that registered members can be identified if they are involved in any crime, adding that drivers that rob passengers at the airport are not members but intruders that take advantage of the lax security to carry out all kinds of criminal activities.
Both the domestic and international arrivals’ halls are in a sorry state. There are no seats at the domestic arrivals terminal just as canopies are used as a shield for travellers. The canopies, which were mounted in 2012, are not enough to take all passengers. The international arrivals terminal is under construction.
One traveller, who spoke on condition of anonymity, said: “The whole place is ramshackle, passengers are made to stand, there’s no comfort there at all.”
But the attitude of the staff to work as well as their approach to passengers seems to improving thanks to the SleepInAirport.net report. A staff at the cargo section was very polite when this reporter approached for inquiries on how to clear cargo.
“Good afternoon sir, how can I be of any help to you, sir? OK. Let me take you to the section that will address the issues you raised. Welcome to Port Harcourt International Airport, sir,” the friendly young lady said with smile.
The airport, which was commissioned in 1979, and is the third busiest in Nigeria, consists of a single terminal with separate facilities for international and domestic flights. In 2010, it was among the four airports approved for remodeling at the cost of N90 billion but the project is yet to be completed.
In September 2013, the contractor handling the first phase of the project, Inter Bua Ltd, said the international terminal was about 95 percent completed. The company also said the second phase, which is the domestic terminal, was about 60 percent finished.
When contacted, the head of the airport’s public affairs department, Mrs. Nwoke, said she had no authority to speak on the matter, adding that the permanent secretary in the ministry of aviation, Hajia Binta Bello, had already dismissed the SleepInAirport.net rating as not being reflective of the reality of Nigerian airports.
She however, referred this reporter to FAAN headquarters in Lagos for further clarifications.