Services at Polonia airport poor: Survey

Apriadi Gunawan, The Jakarta Post/Medan

Findings released Thursday from a survey jointly conducted by the Consumer Protection and Advocacy Institute (LAPK) and the Indonesian Consumers Foundation (YLKI) indicate a widespread public perception of abysmal services at Polonia airport in Medan, North Sumatra.

In addition to poor services, respondents of the survey also complained of inferior facilities and infrastructure. They also sited a lack of professionalism on the part of airport officials.

LAPK director Farid Majdi said the survey used direct telephone interviews of passengers who use the airport.

Out of the four areas covered by the survey, consumers gave greatest emphasis to the poor quality of services. They especially complained of limited waiting room space, damaged and unhygienic toilets, pervasive operation of middlemen, unfriendly officials and disorderly parking.

"We gathered 975 complaints from airport patrons, most of which dealt with poor services at the airport," Farid told The Jakarta Post on the sidelines of an airport workshop in Medan, Thursday.

He said unprofessional administration on the part of the airport management was the principal cause for the poor service.

"At this point in time the airport would be unable to cope with a rapid growth in the number of passengers," he said. "The findings of the survey indicate a need for the airport's administration to reevaluate their work. They need to adopt standard operation procedures, improve facilities and provide training to airport employees."

Alexius Kismoyo, head of state-owned PT Angkasa Pura II in charge of managing Polonia airport, said Thursday the survey had provided valuable input for his company to improve its work.

Alexius said he was aware his company had to do more to realign its work methods.

"We are striving to repair all the broken facilities for the sake of improving services," he said, adding that the poor services were caused mainly by a jump in the number of passengers. The airport, which is designed to serve only 900,000 passengers per year, has been forced to serve more than 5 million passengers annually, he said.

"The airport is currently operating over capacity. Many of the complaints sited by the survey are actually predictable," he said.

In cooperation with the central government, PT Angkasa Pura II is accelerating construction of Medan's new international airport in Kuala Namu, Deli Serdang regency. The new airport will eventually replace Polonia.

"Construction of the new airport is expected to be completed by 2009," said Alexius.