Yuletide Travel: Our Airports Are Ready For Seamlessly Passenger’s Experience –Agbebire

Mr Henry Agbebire,  the Director of Public Affairs and Consumer Protection at the Federal Airport Authority of Nigeria, has assured passengers travelling through airports in the country of seamless facilitation during and after the Yuletide, just as he explained that all security arrangements have been made for smooth passage. CHUKWUEMEKE IWELUNMO was at the FAAN for the interview. Excerpts.

Now we are in the yuletide season, and there is a high volume of passenger traffic within and those coming in from outside, those in the diaspora. What efforts have you made to ensure the seamless facilitation of passengers, especially during this period and after? 

Yeah, we already anticipated that there would be a lot of pressure. More so, Terminal 1, which is the older terminal in Lagos, is undergoing some kind of repair, which eventually, after the yuletide season, would be shut down for complete overhaul or upgrade.

So because of that, we anticipated that and realised that there is a need to prepare. There are about five or six airlines that use that terminal, and the pressure can be overwhelming. One of the things we’ve done is to really ease the burden.

The pressure has started building. So right now, there is a special team that is supporting the customer service team. You see them at the airport wearing ‘Ask Me T-shirts or Ask Me’ reflective. Their job is to be on the ground to provide support, to provide some kind of comfort where necessary, because sometimes these people are under pressure. They need to get immediate support in terms of response. So that is in terms of customer service.

 

We have also had to appeal,l and we are still appealing to all the security agencies that could take these customers off. In fact, Mr President is putting a lot of pressure on us as well to say, look, this is one season, some people call it detty December now, that a lot of citizens are coming in, and so they need that comfort.

And so we want them to get that optimal experience at the airport. So we are appealing to customs, to immigration, I mean those that are involved, so that the experience, the process, is eased. So right now, I believe they are cooperating.

One area that is a bit challenging is when you have two or three airlines coming together, and there’s some kind of huge number of passengers at the concourse trying to get their vehicles to leave the airport. So it gets a bit rowdy when we have a lot of arrivals. So at that level, we’ve also set up security in place.

In fact, the MD had to ensure that additional personnel, over 80, were added to increase the number of personnel that would help man the security in that area and also ease traffic. So we are making that effort. More things would happen, but we are not oblivious to our responsibilities.

And we just know this is one period that, look, Nigerians need to feel very comfortable at the airport. I want to use this opportunity to say quickly that, yes, a lot of construction work is going on. And so it’s affecting traffic.

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In fact, we thought that by now the temporary terminal would be ready. There’s a terminal that is being built to replace the activities going on in Terminal 1. That will be ready in about the second week of January. But for now, we are still trying to make do with what is available and to ease the discomfort of passengers during this period.

 

Okay, now you’ve just explained to us the effort you have made as regards the international terminal. What about the local terminals? Remember, you are in charge of 43 airports across the country. What about the other three international airports across the country, as well as the domestic wing, what are you also doing? 

 

Yeah, we are replicating that as well. The number of personnel on the ground. For instance, the other day, the carousel was a bit slow. I didn’t come in on time. I have to quickly say that we have people who are working 24-7. So we emphasise some of these little challenges.

The pressure on the airlines, too. I think they are delaying flights to some extent. And also, they are taking passengers off.

So we are ensuring that the environment is conducive. The AC is working very well. Just to ensure that the process itself is seamless and comfortable for the passenger.

I’m just reassuring you that if you go to the airport right now, you’ll see our team from traffic, from the car park, everybody working around the clock to make this possible.

 

Now let’s look at people’s behaviour, especially at this time. A lot of passengers are aggrieved because their flights are cancelled or even delayed. What measures are you also putting in place to ensure that your staff, I’m not talking about airline staff or other agencies, but your own staff as the airport manager, to ensure that we don’t have any problem? The issue of soliciting money from passengers, especially at this time. What have you also done in this regard?

 

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First is how we can bring in emotional intelligence to manage these people. We have chosen not to just depend on the effort the NCAA is making. Because the NCAA too, they are on the ground, ensuring that passengers are satisfied and whatever level of compensation and comfort, the NCAA is not resting on its laurels. But in terms of the international airport where we have a lot of this soliciting and passengers being harassed, we have campaigned. And one thing I want to say, first of all, I think our passengers are people who are coming in.

We just want them to be bold, to say, look, I’m not giving anything. We’ve set the structure in place. There are people to support them. Just make sure you come early if you are travelling out, so you don’t have problems with trying to check in and the rest. And so you now need help. And as a result, people want to get money out of you.

Then, when you’re coming in, please ensure you come in with the right things. You don’t come in with things that will make you suspicious or whatever. And if you are genuine, just come in.

And if anybody, please, we have QR codes. Scan those QR codes. Scan those QR codes.

And there are about nine numbers. Call them. My number is even included. So, call these numbers and say, I have a problem here. I understand some people may not have a telephone. They are just coming in. Their loved ones are waiting for them outside to make calls. Please, whatever form of harassment you suffer when you come out, make this call.

But we want our own passengers to be bold. You are coming from developed countries where, I mean, such things don’t happen. So nobody should come harass you in your own country.

So we are working on that. That’s not to say that we are losing sleep. Sorry, we are not losing sleep for people who are still hanging around at the airport.

But we’ve curtailed all of that. And security agencies, I’m sure, their supervisors and bosses have warned them. So this is not a period we are going to accommodate all of this.

We’ll keep appealing. We’ll keep connecting with them. But please, we want passengers reassured. We also want to appeal again. The construction work going on sometimes affects some of our facilities. AC is not cooling sometimes.

It’s not to say that this is the excellence we are striving for. The excellence we are striving for is for the AC to cool and be okay. As much as we can, we’ll just remain consistent in our effort.

But they should understand. We’ve seen a lot of complaints, a lot of passengers not being happy. But we are making an effort every day to mitigate these challenges. And we really want it to be fun for Nigerians.

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Are you also collaborating with other sister agencies to ensure that there is hit-free movement? Especially at this time, I don’t know if you have met with the police to allow passengers to drive into the airport to avoid missing their flights?

 

Yes, we have. Issues of security has its own subterranean strategy. So when you say, we don’t want this, it looks like you are not being sensitive to what may have brought them there.

But on a serious note, they all understand. And everybody is informed about the season, and why passengers’ comfort is critical for us at FAAN and for the nation. So there is that balance, and we keep making the effort.

 

Your last words, sir, your encouragement to air travellers and other airport users. 

 

We don’t want to come and give excuses. We really want to do our best, but we want to appeal.

Don’t come with this fear, oh, I’m back in Nigeria again. Come with this excitement that Nigeria is fun, its period, Lagos is fun, and whatever little hiccups. I mean, we have said emotionally a few things to really make you happy, but let’s be upbeat.

And there’s this long-term, you know, I always tell people that what is happening to FAAN right now, our facilities, you know, is like a woman that’s pregnant. And you know, this nine-month pregnancy, you know, after carrying the baby, it’s time for labour, the excruciating pain we’re all going through. But you know, the moment the baby comes out, there will be this bundle of joy.

And so very soon, the new airport, the international airport, will be ready. It will be the upgraded one in about a year plus. But for this period, people should just understand and see, you know, just try and just be patriotic and understand, but we’ll just keep trying. We’re not going to rest on our oars. I thank everybody so much for the patience so far.