Visakhapatnam: Vizag airport has scored the least and stands last among the 17 airports in the country being surveyed quarterly in terms of various service quality parameters. The third-quarter report of the Airport Service Survey being conducted by the global body of airport operators, Airports’ Council International (ACI) on behalf of Airports Authority of India (AAI) on a quarterly basis rather than half-yearly for 17 airports including Vizag from this year, has been released.
The report shows that the scores against most have fallen in comparison to the first two quarters. The airport has received 4.04 (Jan-March), 4.17 (Apr-June) and 3.97 (Aug-Oct) out of five in the first three quarters respectively, which is never above the average score of the 17 airports.
Ironically, the port city is hosting a meeting of international and national significance, but its rating instead of improving is deteriorating. More-over, the cleanliness rating of the washrooms and airport terminal of the airport in the city, which boasts of a third cleanest tag and cleanest railway station, have also seen a negative growth in the third quarter.
Of the 33 parameters, 23 such as parking facilities, value for money of parking facilities, restaurant/eating facilities, availability of baggage carts/trolleys, waiting time in check-in queue/line, efficiency of check-in staff, courtesy and helpfulness of check-in staff, waiting time at passport/personal ID inspection among others are also not satisfactory as per the report. When contacted, Vizag Airport director G. Prakash Reddy said he would not make any comment as he was on leave.
“At least nine flights are landing in the morning and that too at short intervals. So, the existing washrooms are turning out to be inadequate. Moreover, tissues are not available sometimes, much to the surprise of the foreign tourists. We cannot blame the airport staff because improving the infrastructure with proper expansion is the only solution,” said K. Vijay Mohan, president of Tour and Travel Operators’ Association of Andhra Pradesh. An airport official refused to comment.
